


Some die young (so you better hold on)

by orphan_account



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Bonnie Bennett, BAMF Caroline Forbes, Everybody's got issues, Resurrection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2018-11-29 16:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 61,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11444634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The supernatural residents of the French Quarter thought they were prepared for anything. Anything, that is, except a Bennett witch, a baby vampire and a few surprises.WHERE CANON ENDS:TVD: Josie/Lizzie's birthTO: Dahlia/Esther's deaths





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly I came up with this because the timeline never made sense. For example, Jo discovers she’s pregnant in February but the twins are born March of the following year. I’m messing with it. 
> 
> February 2013 –Jo finds out she’s pregnant.  
> June 2013- Jo and the Gemini coven die. Elena is put in her coma.  
> October 2013- Caroline gives birth.  
> End of February 2014- Dahlia and Esther die in New Orleans.  
> March 2014- Story begins

**AN:** Caroline does not move away from Mystic Falls just yet. Rayna has killed Beau but then (temporarily) left Mystic Falls. Julian is still alive.

Caroline looked down at her daughters and smiled. Sure, they weren’t biologically hers, but she carried them of months. And went through labor. And almost died. Besides, ‘vampire surrogate used by a dying coven to preserve their future’ was a long title and hard to explain. Her girls looked so peaceful in their cribs. She’d always dreamed of being a mom, and thought her death had taken away the chance forever.

While the blonde vampire was happy to have her girls, the rest of her life lacked anything worth celebrating. Rayna was on everyone’s mind, Elena was still in a magical coma, Damon was being Damon and of course, Stefan and her were done. At least she still had Bonnie, and surprisingly, Valerie. The heretic and her had become close once Stefan and her broke up. Shortly after the twins were born, it became too much for Caroline to, again, be with someone who seemed intent on never putting her first. As Caroline thought about her life, Lizzie began to cry. She picked her up and whispered “Shh. It’s ok. It’s ok sweetie, mommy’s here.”

 

Across town, Bonnie thought about life. So much had happened in the last few years. Discovering she was a witch, losing Grams, the two years of Hell caused by the Mikaelsons, her death, the list seemed to never end. And, of course, now Elena is tied to her life force. As if the Bennett witch needed another thing to worry about. It seemed like every time she tried to save Elena or Caroline or Jeremy, the universe decided to make things worse for her.

As she thought about all that had happened, Damon stormed into the house. “Have you found a way to wake up Elena, yet?” he asked the same way he did once a week ever since the wedding.

“No.” Bonnie said tersely. _There isn’t exactly a Google for this stuff._ Plus, there was another spell she needed to find first. Elena was already safe.

“It’s one spell. How hard can it be to find?”

She was getting really sick of his attitude. She missed Elena too, but undoing a powerful spell doesn’t just happen overnight. “Well, the Gemini coven is dead, except the twins who can’t even speak. The Other Side is gone so I can’t just ask their ghosts. Plus, if I mess it up, Elena and I both die.”

“Kai did give us one solution though.” Damon said menacingly as he walked toward her. “I suggest you find a way, quickly, before I run out of patience.”

It was in that moment Bonnie had had enough. For years she had sacrificed herself to try and save her friends and then she’d turn around and get blamed for the consequences. “ _You didn’t stop Katherine, you didn’t kill Klaus, you helped Silas, you let the Other Side get destroyed. Your life is linked to Elena’s so hurry up and die already.”_

Before Damon could get close enough to tower over her, he found himself with a massive headache on the other side of the room. “Leave. Now.”

He gave her one last warning look before speeding away. As soon as she knew the coast was clear, Bonnie decided a visit to Caroline’s was needed. At the very least, she could vent about Damon and his demands to her.

 

Caroline looked up as she heard a knock at the door. Opening it, she saw Bonnie, who looked livid. “What happened?”

“Damon. He’s less than pleased that I haven’t found a way to unlink Elena from me or wake her up yet.”

Caroline scoffed “Its not like you can just call up Kai and ask him how to undo it. The entire coven, which probably invented that spell, is dead. What does he expect?”

“A miracle.” Bonnie spat out. “He also threatened to kill me.”

If Caroline were not holding a baby in her hands, she would have broken something. “He did what?”

“Yeah, he said Kai already gave us a solution, my death, and if I don’t find an answer soon, he’ll run out of patience.”Caroline sat in silence for a moment. Sadness, anger, resignation all ran through her mind. Anger at Damon, sadness at Elena’s situation, what it was doing to Bonnie and the thought of losing her best friend, and the resignation at being stuck in this situation.“You gave him an aneurism right?”

“And threw him across the room. But I’m done.”Caroline looked at her quizzically.“I’m done trying or being forced to help the Salvatores and then being blamed for the outcome. I’ve never had a coven and most of the time I’ve had no one help me. I never asked for any of this. I didn’t ask for Shane to come to me, or ask to die or ask to be the Anchor. Kai decided to link me to Elena, I never had a choice.” The blonde looked like she wanted to say something but decided to let her friend continue. Lizzie had fallen asleep sometime during Bonnie’s tirade. “But it’s more than that. Grams died because of them, they drew Katherine here. They killed my mom.” Bonnie took a pause and sighed, “I can’t keep living like this.”

“I get it.” Caroline said softly

“You do?”

“I’m pretty sure you just had the realization I did a few weeks ago.”Now it was Bonnie’s turn to look confused.“The Salvatores, but especially Damon, will always justify what they do where Elena is concerned. Compulsion, murder, it’s all ok in their eyes because its for Elena.”

“She’s our friend.”

“Yes, she is but that doesn’t mean you have to die for her. I’m on your side either way.” They both sat in silence for a few minutes. “I know this sounds weird, but I kind of miss having the Originals around. Hell, I miss Katherine even though she killed me.”

Both girls had to laugh at that.

“By the way, I need to talk to you about that. Tomorrow.”

 

 

Bonnie had decided to stay at Caroline’s that night. She missed her friend and the day’s events left her feeling exhausted. The next morning she woke up to Caroline trying to feed the girls and talking on the phone with Alaric, who was hunting down leads on Rayna. “Yes, the girls are fine but they miss you. Let me know what you find. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye. ”

The blonde turned around and saw her friend. “Morning, how are you feeling?”

“A lot better. Yesterday was cathartic to say the least.”

“Yeah, you certainly let a lot of frustration out.”

“I just feel so helpless. I want to get her back but I don’t know how.”

“You’ll find a way somehow.” Caroline went to hug her friend, but as she went to hug her, a thought popped into her head. “Valerie.”

“What about her?”

“ Umm, hello?! She was part of the Gemini coven!”

“They banished her for being a siphoner.”

“Yes, but she was raised in the coven. There’s a chance she might know something about the spell. It can’t hurt to ask.”

“I guess you’re right.”

 

The two girls had a nice day. After so much chaos in their lives recently, a day at home with two babies was surprisingly calm, even though Josie and Lizzie were not. After putting both girls to bed, Caroline decided to ask the question she’d been thinking about all day. “What did you mean?”

“What?”

“Yesterday, when I said I missed the Originals and Katherine. You said you needed to talk to me about that.”

“Oh yeah. Promise you won’t get mad?”

“Of course.”

“I kind of want to bring Kol back from the dead. “

Caroline was shocked speechless. Human Caroline would have written it off as a joke but the sincerity in Bonnie’s eyes told her this was serious. “Why?” Bonnie instantly looked away. “I’m not mad or judging, but why? I thought you hated him.”

The young witch thought for a second. It was one thing for Caroline to know bonnie was dead for a few months, it was another to tell her all that happened during that time and while she was the Anchor. She had gained a lot of insight and wisdom when dealing with the dead.

“It started the day of graduation. Kol was there in the crowd during the ceremony. I took him to the boiler room where I died. We talked about how we wanted to stay here.” Bonnie began tearing up, “I played a part in his death and yet he was upset that I died.”Caroline had no idea what she was supposed to say and settled for rubbing her friend’s shoulder comfortingly. “Then, on the Other Side, we started spending time together. At first, it was just the two of us trading insults and barbs back and forth but soon we started actually getting to know each other. It was nice to have someone.” There was so much of Bonnie’s ‘dead time’ that no one knew about and everyone seemed too afraid to ask about. Caroline had always wanted to know what she experience those few months but didn’t want to upset her by asking about. “Then I became the Anchor, and I had one foot in each world. I got to come back here but could still see Kol and he helped me when people crossing over became too much.”

“You fell in love with him.”

“Yeah, and I’d like to think he fell in love with me too.” Bonnie took a pause; this was the part of the story that made her most upset to think about. “I never got a chance to say goodbye. I got so wrapped up in helping bring Stefan, Elena, Tyler and Damon back that the Other Side collapsed before I could tell him. I don’t know if he got sucked into oblivion like Katherine or found peace like Grams.”

For a few seconds, Caroline sat and absorbed Bonnie’s story. It was sad how bonnie always found someone only to lose them shortly after. The guilt Caroline had been feeling for over a year was also brought to the surface. If bonnie could reveal her secret than so could Caroline. “I…have a confession to make. Part of the reason I broke up with Stefan is because of Klaus.” Bonnie looked at Caroline closely, as if inspecting her.

“You love him, don’t you?”

“Yes. Before you say it, I know he’s done horrible things but he’s also the only person who has put me first. He fell in love with me, and when he agreed to leave Mystic Falls and give me a chance to figure out what I wanted, I realized I might want him. “ Caroline just realized she admitted to being in love with someone who had made her friends’ lives hell for a long time and indirectly caused Abby’s death. “Please say something.”

“I’m in love with Kol, I guess I can’t really judge you for that. But I reserve the right to give him an aneurism if he hurts you.”

The blonde let out a sigh of relief. “Back to the whole resurrecting Kol thing, have you figured out how to do it?”

“Somewhat. I found a spell but I’ve had a few setbacks”

“Like what?”

“Well, for one Kol was briefly possessing a witch in Louisiana, but that witch died, so I have to find his spirit all over again. Plus, the spell isn’t in English or Latin and Google Translate isn’t exactly reliable. I don’t even know for sure what materials I need.”

“Ok, if you can’t translate anything, how do you know the spell is the one you’re looking for?”

“Qetsiyah decided to be helpful for once” she snorted, “she told me she created a spell to bring back the dead as a precursor to the immortality spell. It was in her Grimoire which I brought back from the Prison World”

“So you have it, but you can’t translate it because of course it’s in a dead language.”

The girls had gotten so engrossed in their conversation that not even Caroline’s vampire hearing noticed the sound of the front door opening.

“Well then it’s a good thing Klaus is obsessed with one of you.”

Both girls’ heads shot towards the door. Then their jaws dropped in shock.

“This isn’t possible. We watched you die.”

Standing in the doorway was a very alive, and very smug Katherine Pierce.


	2. Chapter 2

“Miss me?” the doppelganger asked.

“Surprisingly, yes. Stuff got a lot more complicated after you died. I miss the simplicity of your plotting.”

“Caroline, not the point.” Bonnie turned to look at Katherine, who she watched get sucked into Oblivion. “How are you here?”

“Magic Bon-Bon.” She said like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“You died. You got sucked into Oblivion before reaching the Other Side. It should have been impossible for you to come back.”

“Well, I’m not most people.” Katherine sighed, she really needed a drink before story time, “Apparently there was a loophole in the spell that created the Other Side.” Both girls looked at her, expecting her to continue. “Think about what created the Other Side. Qetsiyah’s magic plus Amara plus a lot of magical blood equals supernatural purgatory.”

“And?”

“And Bennett magic” she pointed at Bonnie, “plus Gemini coven blood thanks to their connection to their leader plus the collapse of a few alternate planes of existence thanks to Malachi Parker equals resurrected doppelganger.”

Caroline felt conflicted, when Katherine was cured, the two of them had gotten close and she was actually sad to lose her. “How long? How long have you been back?”

“Few months. I came back human; I obviously couldn’t stay that way. It took a while to find a vampire who hadn’t heard of me to give their blood.”

Neither woman was surprised. She saw humans as weak and she was anything but. Of course she immediately looked for a way to turn back. Bonnie and Caroline shared a look, Katherine hated this town. She wouldn’t have come back for no reason. She wanted something.

“If you don’t need to get turned, why are you here?”

“I wanted to mess with Damon some. Pretend to be Elena, et cetera, but that’s a little hard with her in a coma.” She knew both girls were ready to start yelling at her for thinking like that and she needed them. “As interesting as the lecture you both want to give me is, we need to get back to the point: Klaus.”

“What about him?”

“You want Kol back, I want Elijah. We both need you,” she pointed at Caroline, “to convince Klaus not to kill me and to help Bonnie. Elena went night-night and there’s a psychotic huntress running around, making NOLA the safest place for at least two of us. Plus, do either of you really have a reason to stick around here?”

The blonde sat in silence, she had her daughters who weren’t actually hers; the girls and Bonnie were her only reasons to stay. Bonnie was staying mostly for Caroline, she wanted to support her friend, but she needed Kol back. Katherine saw on their faces as soon as they realized she was right. “So let’s hurry it up.” Just then, one of the twins began to cry. “Oh, I forgot about them. Where’s the baby daddy?”

“Tracking down the psychotic huntress. He can be here in two days.”

“Call him. Now. Soon as he gets here, we’re leaving. In the meantime, pack.”

Katherine Pierce was a force to be reckoned with when she set her mind to something. After years of dealing with a scheming Katherine, they knew it was better to be with her than against her. As Caroline headed upstairs to check on the twins and bonnie got ready to head home, a thought occurred to both of them: Damon.

“What about Damon’s quest to bring Elena back? He’s going to try pretty hard to make you stay”

“I’ll lie.” Bonnie stated simply, “I’m going to tell him I need to reach out to some witches in person. If that doesn’t work, I’ll improvise. Like I said before, I’m done getting walked all over by him and his brother.”

The doppelganger looked both shocked and exceptionally pleased at Bonnie’s statement. “It’s about damn time you grew a backbone.”

It had been two days since Katherine’s surprise arrival. The girls’ bags were packed, excuses were made and the trip was planned out. All they were waiting on was Alaric.

“Ugh, I’ve waited 500 years plus all that time I was dead to get Elijah. You’d think for once someone could be on time.”

“Ric said he turned around as soon as I called him, he should be here any second” Caroline said, trying to calm the agitated doppelganger. Having an annoyed Katherine on their hands was never a good thing.

“What? Did he need to walk here from Nashville?”

As the blonde began to respond her phone rang, “Hello?” all of a sudden, the color drained out of her face. “Wait…Stefan…calm down. What happened?”

After a few tense seconds, Stefan went quiet. “Thank you for telling me” Caroline replied robotically, “just…get here when you can.”

“What? Now we’re waiting on him too?” Katherine exclaimed as Bonnie took in her friend’s sad demeanor and asked, “Care, what’s going on?”

Caroline took a deep breath as she braced herself for recounting what Stefan had told her. “Ric’s dead.”

“What? How? When?”

“Ric had a lead on Rayna in Charlottesville. On his way back here, he and Stefan were meeting up with a vampire who had information on her. Stefan was running late and when he reached the house, he found their bodies. He doesn’t know exactly what happened. He’s, um, bringing Ric’s body back with him.” As soon as she finished the story, Caroline collapsed onto the couch.

“Oh my god. What…what does this mean?”

“It means, we’re going to bury him and then, we’re going to pack up the twins stuff and get them out of here. “ Both girls turned and looked at Katherine in shock. “What? As soon as the shock wore off, one of you was going to start harping on about having a funeral for him. Plus, with him dead, the twins only have one parent, Caroline. We might not be BFFs blondie, but I know you well enough to know you won’t leave them behind. Now stop looking at me like that.”

Bonnie sat there, processing both Ric’s death and this surprisingly compassionate side of Katherine Pierce. Caroline, needing to do something, got up from the couch, muttering something about calling Stefan and checking on the twins.

 

Alaric Saltzman’s second funeral was bigger than his first. This time, instead of racing against time, everyone got to say goodbye properly. It was also a lot sadder. There was a sense of finality as Stefan and Damon lowered his coffin into the grave he escaped from just two years earlier. He was human this time; there was no way to bring him back.

“Goodbye buddy” Damon said as he walked away

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there” came from Stefan.

One by one everyone left the cemetery, until only Caroline and Bonnie remained, holding Josie and Lizzie. There were so many things Caroline had wanted to say to Ric and now her chance was gone. “I’m so sorry you didn’t get to see them grow up. I promise I’ll be the best mom ever to them. I’ll tell them all about their dad and their biological mom and how much you and Jo both loved them. I won’t let them forget either of you. I hope in whatever afterlife you find, you get to see Jo again.” Caroline sniffed and looked down at Josie and then over at Lizzie, who were too young to know what was going on, “wave bye-bye to Daddy girls.”

With that, the pair turned and walked out of the cemetery. Both were secretly a little happy to be leaving tomorrow, Alaric was just another reminder; no one leaves Mystic Falls alive.

When Caroline returned to her house, she was surprised to see Jeremy waiting on her front steps. The ex-Hunter stood up and embraced both crying girls. When he broke apart from Bonnie, he gave her shoulder one last squeeze and asked for a minute alone with Caroline. The witch nodded, took the twins and went inside. When she was out of earshot, Jeremy spoke.

“I can’t believe he’s gone.”

“Me neither. He was supposed to watch the girls grow up.”

“Can I…I don’t quite know how to ask this. Would you mind if maybe I came to see them sometimes? They’re kinda the only family I have that’s awake right now.”

“Yeah, of course. We…I’m leaving tomorrow. I need space from this town, and I need my girls to be safe.” Caroline looked away guilty and then back at Jeremy, “I’ll let you know where we end up, but you can’t tell anyone.”

The boy nodded, it was better than nothing. “Saying goodbye to Ric isn’t the only reason I’m here. I was on my way to meet him when Damon called me.”

“Why?”

Jeremy gestured to a case behind him on the porch. They walked over to it, and he opened it. Caroline’s jaw dropped. “I was supposed to give him this to hide.”

“Is that-?”

“Yeah, it was hard to ahold of.”

“Why are you showing me this? Why not Bonnie or the Salvatores?”

“Bonnie has enough on her plate as is. Damon and Stefan have lost sight of what’s important. I need you to take it with you; it needs to get away from this town. Don’t tell me, or anyone else, that you have it or where you leave it. This isn’t an ordinary case, it’s is cloaked so a locator spell won’t work as long as it stay in there.” The blonde stood there dumbfounded. “Do you understand?” she gave an apprehensive nod. “One last thing: obviously you shouldn’t try to use it.”

“The trunk of the SUV has a false bottom. Alaric used it to hide his hunting equipment. Put it in there.”

Jeremy did as ordered, and then went inside to say goodbye to Bonnie.

Caroline’s stress cleaning had come in handy for once. Ever since she’d gotten off the phone with Damon, she needed to distract herself everything. She, and to a lesser extent Bonnie and Katherine, spent the last three days packing. All the twin’s stuff was ready to go and in the car or were being shipped down to Louisiana once the group arrived. The house was spotless and most of Alaric’s books were in storage. They’d decided to bring his most unusual books with them, since they might be able to help Bonnie in her ‘bring Kol back’ or ‘wake up Elena’ missions.

The next morning was hectic. No matter how much planning went into leaving, getting everyone up and out the door on time was going to take a miracle.

“Ok. I have snacks for the girls, stuffed animals, and the directions. I put the diaper bag in the car. What am I missing?”

“Your mind. You’ve clearly lost it.”

“Helpful as always Katherine.”

“Are you sure you not calling Klaus before we show up in New Orleans is a good idea?” Bonnie asked as she returned from putting her bags in the car.

“No, but I’ve already committed to it.” She probably should have told him, but between packing, the funeral and trying to find the right words, she hadn’t had time. “Anything else we need before we leave?”

“Yeah, me. I’m coming with you.”

All three girls turned to the figure standing in the doorway. Luckily, the sun hadn’t quite come up just yet.

“Lexi?! But, you died Was this week resurrection week and no one told us or something?”

As Lexi rushed back from the bathroom, she said, “It’s a long story. We’ve got a long car ride ahead. I’ll explain on the way,” as she rushed them out of the house. All the shocked pair could do was nod, as Katherine looked on amused. She had never formally met Lexi, but from what she heard, this was going to get interesting. As Lexi walked out the door, the sun hit her, “By the way, I hate this whole sunlight thing.”


	3. Chapter 3

“This is gonna sound a little weird, but I’m pretty sure I came back because someone died.” Lexi said as she sat in the third row of Caroline’s SUV.

“Ok, but how? And who?”

“One minute, it was quiet where I was, the next there was this massive explosion and next thing I knew, I was back.”

“From where?” Bonnie asked at the same time Caroline asked “Why you?”

“After the Other Side collapsed, I got sent to this void or something. I mean, there was nothing there. After a while, I heard this opening sound and was drawn to it. Next thing I know, I wake up in the middle of the parking lot where Damon staked me. As soon as I realized this was real, I tried to find one of you.”

“Well, at least I’m not the newest resurrection anymore, even if I am the cutest” Katherine added, unhelpfully. The other two girls sat there shocked. Katherine’s resurrection was one thing, but neither ever expected to see Lexi again, especially after Stefan told them she’d found peace.

“Can I ask you a question? Or actually a few? Why didn’t you try to find Stefan?” Caroline remembered how much her death affected him and figured the first thing she’d do is find him. “And why did you decide to come with us?”

“The last time I saw Stefan, Silas was running amok. The time before that I was the ghost torturing him. And seeing Stefan means seeing Damon who I will kill. Plus I kinda needed a break.”

“Are you sure about this?” Caroline asked.

“Like you said, I died like four years ago. I had years on the Other Side to think about stuff.”

“I’ll make you a deal” the witch said, wanting to help and remembering what Stefan said to her after Caroline’s transition, “when we get to New Orleans, once I figure out where all my ‘witchy’ stuff is, I’ll make you a daylight ring.”

“Deal. You’d do that? I thought witches hated vampires.”

“Some do, but you helped Stefan control his urges and Stefan, in turn, helped a lot of people, including Caroline, stay relatively human. Let’s just say I owe you.”

The next few hours of the trip consisted of looking after the twins and the weirdest small talk any of the four girls had ever had.

As they crossed into Mississippi, a topic the girls were avoiding came up.

“How exactly am I supposed to get Klaus to help us and not kill Katherine?”

Katherine rolled her eyes, “Bat your eyelashes at him and play pretty blonde distraction long enough for him to agree not to kill who you came with.”

Caroline groaned, she hated being the distraction and after everything she’d been though with Klaus, thought he deserved a little better than that. As she thought of a comeback, Lexi interrupted. “Look, all I know about Klaus is what I heard about him before I died, but how do you know he’ll help Bonnie with whatever it is?”

Bonnie thought for a second, she trusted Caroline. She knew she couldn’t trust Klaus, not with something as important as this. “We’re gonna lie. I’ll tell him I need help translating the spell. He doesn’t need to know what its for. If he finds out and asks who we’re resurrecting, then I’ll tell him. Maybe.” After that, the girls sat in silence, hoping this plan would work. Before they knew it, Bonnie was driving past the ‘Welcome to New Orleans’ sign, and Caroline was beginning to regret not calling first.

Klaus missed back when Elijah was daggered. It was harder for him to lecture Klaus from a coffin. It was also easier to forget about his dodgy behavior towards Elijah without him present. Apparently, cursing the mother of your child and compelling your brother’s girlfriend to kill herself was “drastic” and “unnecessary” and above all “psychotic to a level you had never reached before.” He was pretty sure there was something in the water making everyone act like this. Davina and Marcel seemed intent on remaining perpetual thorns in his side. Luckily, Freya didn’t seem to hate him as much as before. As Klaus thought about how to reconcile with his big brother, and looked over the sleeping city, his phone rang.

“Hello?” he answered without looking at the caller ID.

“Hi….Klaus.” Caroline stated awkwardly.

“Ah, Caroline. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Umm…please tell me you’re still in New Orleans”

“I am.” He stated cautiously. “Why, love?”

“I’m here. There’s a lot I need to explain. Can you just tell me where in the city you are so we can meet?”

Klaus quickly gave her the address of the Abattoir, wondering why she seemed so panicked. He concluded that she must be here to ask him a favor, just like her friends made her do back in Virginia. Within ten minutes, he heard a car pull up and saw a certain blonde vampire step out of the passenger seat. “Did someone get bitten?”

“Nope.” She said, making the ‘p’ pop. It had been more than two years since she’d seen or heard from him, and she was nervous.

“Are you here to take me up on my offer?” he asked arrogantly. He knew she’d cave eventually, but he didn’t expect her to join him so soon. His arrogance was starting to grate on the already exhausted blonde.

“Look, I just spent more than 20 hours in a car, nonstop, with two infants, whose existence I will explain in a minute.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself; angering Klaus would help no one right now. “I’ll explain everything, but first, do you promise not to harm anyone in that car behind me?”

“Why would I hurt two children?”

“Do you swear not to hurt anyone in that car?” she asked again, a little more urgently. Her concern over whoever was in the car piqued his curiosity.

“Yes, love, I swear I won’t hurt whatever members of the Mystic Falls gang you brought with you. Shall we take this inside?”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Caroline turned back toward the car and said, “Alright it’s safe to come out now.” She then raced over and got a baby carrier out of the passenger seat.

Out of the driver side stepped the Bennett witch, who got another baby carrier out of the back seat. After a moment, a woman with light brown hair he’d never met got out of the car mumbling about how ‘this daylight thing sucks’. Finally, a very familiar brunette got out of the car.

“Long time, no see, huh Klaus?”

Katerina Petrova. Not even death could get the troublesome doppelganger out of his life.


	4. Chapter 4

Klaus was in shock. He expected the Bennett witch, a Salvatore, even whiny Elena or his former hybrid minion to be there, not this. Not Katerina. “Why is she here? If I remember correctly, I came to Mystic Falls to gloat over your corpse, before someone gave me a better offer.” He said the last part while looking suggestively at Caroline.

“As I said. I’ll explain in a second. Can we get inside soon please? Dawn is coming and not everyone is equipped for that.”

It was then that Klaus noticed the fourth person with them was a vampire. Who looked familiar.“By all means, we don’t want your friend- “

"Lexi, your brother tried to kill me."

“Lexi, to burn, now do we?” With that, the rag tag group went into the building. As they walked through the courtyard, Klaus felt the need to ask “Who is she and why do you care what happens to her?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. I’m intrigued to hear it.”

Then, the baby in the carrier Bonnie was holding began to cry. The witch looked startled and turned to Caroline, who gave the carrier in her hand to Katherine absentmindedly. She lifted the baby out of its seat and whispered, “Shh, Josie. It’s ok. Mama’s here. You’re ok. I know, we messed up your sleep didn’t we?“ She turned to Klaus and said, “Is there somewhere I can put the twins down for a nap while we talk?”

The hybrid stood for a moment, as his brain caught up to what he was hearing. Not only did Caroline have a child, who should have been impossible for a vampire, but she had twins. He came back to reality just as Caroline was starting to get concerned over his lack of response. “Yes. There’s a room next to my daughter’s nursery that’s perfect. The twins can have a nice, long nap because I get the feeling this is going to be a long conversation.” He gestured to the others; “we’ll head into my study, third door on the left, while you put them down.”

Caroline zoomed back to the car to grab two diaper bags and then carried the two sleeping girls upstairs. When she came into Klaus’s study, the atmosphere was tense. Katherine and Klaus were glaring at each other, Bonnie was glaring at Klaus and Lexi was staring into space. The blonde took a deep breath. “This is a long story, even for you, and I’m not really sure where we should start.”

“I guess I will, since mine is most irrelevant and the shortest part of it.” Lexi suggested. When no one objected, she continued, “I’m Lexi as I said before. Damon staked me like four years ago. About a week ago, I came back to life somehow.”

“All of that I understand. But why exactly are you here?” Klaus asked. Nothing in her story had anything to do with him, so her presence seemed unusual.

“She’s a friend of a friend, ok. She came because we’re here. Can we just leave it at that please?”

“Fine. How is my least favorite doppelganger not dead?”

“Well, there was a loophole I exploited after the Other Side collapsed.”

“Nice to see that you’re the same after five hundred years.” Katherine elected to ignore him; she hadn’t come to the city to see him anyway.

“We covered who your friend is and why Katerina here isn’t dead. On to the next question, how do you have children and why did you bring them here?”

Caroline took a deep breath; this was the one story the girls had agreed to tell him in full. “Long story: Alaric came back from the dead right before the Other Side went away. He then got turned human by this anti-magic barrier. He met this woman Jo, they fell in love, and she got pregnant. Jo happened to be a witch, a member of the Gemini coven. Do you know what a siphoner is?”

“A witch who doesn’t have magic but can absorb it.”

“Yeah, so the Gemini coven picks its leader by having a set of twins merge their magic. The problem is the weaker twin dies. Jo’s twin, Kai, was born a siphoner and got kicked out of the coven. Then he tried to kill his whole family and the coven trapped him somewhere. He escaped, and merged with his younger brother who was a twin, but not his twin, and became the leader of the coven. He attacked Jo and Alaric’s wedding and killed her. Then Damon killed him. When Kai got killed, the rest of the coven started dying. In order to protect the future of their coven, they did a spell to transplant Jo’s unborn children into the safest body magic could find, which was mine.”

“So you gave birth to them, but they aren’t yours. Why aren’t they with their father?”

“I was going to come here without them, but Ric died. We don’t know how or why. I couldn’t just leave them there, I had to bring them with me.” Her voice cracked as she finished the story.

“I’m sorry Caroline. They and you are more than welcome here.” A thought occurred to him, “if you’re not here for the twins, why are you here?”

“I guess that’s where I come in” Bonnie interjected. She had been so quiet; Klaus nearly forgot she was there. “I need your help with a spell.”

“Oh really? One of the great Bennett witches needs my help?”

“Don’t gloat so much. You probably speak the language that the spell is in. We figured either you or Elijah in your thousand years of life must know at least one dead language.”

“Ouch, such hostility. I’ll consider helping you.”

“Thanks, your generosity is astounding” she deadpanned.

As Klaus was about to ask how the witch managed to get ahold of a spell from Qetsiyah’s time, the door to his study opened.

“Klaus? Why are there two babies in the room next to Hope’s?” asked the blonde who had just walked in, “Oh, I didn’t think anyone would be here this early. I’ll come back later.”

“No need Cami. I’d like to introduce you to a few friends from Mystic Falls.” Katherine looked back and forth between the Original and the human who had just walked in. There was something familiar about her.

“Friends isn’t the term I would use, Klaus. Hi, I’m Bonnie.”

“Camille. I’m a friend of Klaus and Elijah.”

“Oh my god, this is hilarious.” Everyone turned and looked at Katherine like she’d gone crazy. She looked at Bonnie and Lexi. “You two really don’t see it do you? I’m pretty sure the big, bad hybrid here went looking for a _zamyana_ as soon as he got into town.” Klaus stiffened and Katherine began looking intently between Caroline and Camille. The other two girls’ eyes widened as they realized what Katherine was saying. Camille was basically the generic version of Caroline.

“I have no idea what you just said, but I feel like I should be insulted.” Turning back to Klaus, she asked, “Now, why are there two more babies here? Who’s are they?”

“Mine.“ Camille turned to look at the young, blonde woman who had spoken.

“Ok, but why are you here?”

Katherine got annoyed. Over the last few days she’d gotten a lot closer to the blonde vampire. The small part of her that had a maternal instinct was very protective of her. Why did this woman think she had the right to know anything about Caroline or the twins? “Look Cassie-”

“It’s Cami”

“Whatever. The point is we’ve got a complicated supernatural problem to solve and your human drama can wait. Bye.”

The blonde bartender looked to Klaus to defend her, but the hybrid was focused on the other blonde in the room. “I guess I’ll talk to you later.” She walked out of the room.

“Ok, now that discount-Caroline is gone, we can continue.” While Klaus was relieved that Cami left, he knew the rest of this conversation would be incredibly awkward. He promised to be Caroline’s last love, but Cami’s arrival made him look impatient. Would Caroline think he’d let her go? “Let me guess, you need me to go fetch my dear brother.”

“I don’t need you to do anything. I can find Elijah on my own, but by coming directly to you, I’m avoiding you discovering I’m alive some other way and trying to kill me.” Five hundred years running from someone left her with a good impression of how he thinks and reacts. “ Besides, I’ll need to freshen up first. Now, we’d all like to sleep somewhere other than in a car. Where are we staying?”

Klaus escorted them to the third floor, careful to avoid the places where the sun was starting to stream in, and directed each girl into a room. He made sure Caroline was in the room next to the ones her kids were in, which just so happened to be the closest to his own room. As Caroline walked into her room, he stopped her. “Listen, about Cami-“

“Klaus, it’s been a very long week for me. I can’t do an emotional talk with you right now. I’m sorry to say it, but I didn’t come here for us. Whatever you need to say, I can wait to hear.”

He nodded. “Sleep well. I’ll see you later.”

He went back to his study, thinking about everything he’d heard in the last few hours. He knew he couldn’t keep the guests from Mystic Falls a secret for long. He left Freya a message, asking her to meet him later in the afternoon, using a question about Hope as an excuse. He decided to leave Rebekah to her quest to bring Kol back for the moment. He also called Elijah and left him a vague message about an old acquaintance of theirs who wanted to see him. Klaus may have killed Gia, but he hoped reuniting Katerina and Elijah would at least earn him back some of his brother’s trust.

 

Lexi, Bonnie, Katherine, and Caroline slept for a good seven hours after their talk with Klaus. In the early afternoon that same day, all four of them realized the hard part of their mission was about to begin. Lexi was in the twins’ room, keeping an eye on them while painting her nails and catching up on the last few years of news. She was a little bitter about being stuck inside but she knew Bonnie was working on it.

The other three girls were downstairs in the kitchen talking. Their plan up until this point was ‘Go to New Orleans, convince Klaus to maybe help, improvise for there’. They needed to pull off an Original resurrection without the Mikaelsons or anyone else in the quarter catching on. As they brainstormed, Katherine and Caroline heard two people enter the building and two different voices call out, one familiar, one not.

“Ok, Klaus. I’m here. What did you need to talk about that was so urgent?”

“Yes, Niklaus. What former acquaintance is looking for me? And who else is here?”

The trio looked at each other, wondering whether or not they should bring attention to themselves. “I’ll go” Caroline said, “I can break the news to Elijah and gage the reaction of whoever else that is.”

Caroline walked out of the kitchen and towards Klaus’s study. As she came to the door, she heard Klaus begin to speak, “Well, my dear brother it-“

She decided this was the right moment to enter. Inside, Klaus sat behind his desk looking rather pleased with himself, Elijah stood stiffly, dressed in his usual suit and looking agitated and a blonde woman a little older than her looked bored. “Hey Elijah.”

At her entrance, the group turned around. “Miss Forbes. It’s nice to see you. May I ask why you’re here?” he said formally. He knew his brother had feelings for the young vampire, but had no idea she returned them. Last he heard she was staying in Virginia to hold onto her human life for a little longer.

“I’m sorry. Who are you?” the mystery blonde asked.

“How rude of me. I’ve forgotten my introductions. Freya, this is Caroline who I met in Mystic Falls a few years back. Caroline, this is my older sister Freya, who recently returned to my family.”

“Nice to meet you” Caroline said nodding slightly to Freya who returned the gesture. “Wait, I thought your older sister died of the plague before you were born.”

“So we thought, Miss Forbes. It turns out our mother gave her away to our aunt.”

“So your mother was even more diabolical than I thought. Great. “ Caroline decided to rip the band aid off and build friendships later. ”Anyway, I’m sure you’re both wondering why I’m here. I’m here for three reasons. One: Bonnie and I need help with translating a very old spell and figured two of the oldest vampires alive might be able to help.“

Elijah wasn’t shocked. He had to admit that, attempts to harm the Mikaelson family aside, the Bennett witch was smart. She had a habit of knowing exactly who to see to get correct information. He knew she was resourceful, but he needed to know one thing. “Given your friends’ history of trying to hurt or kill my family, I have to ask: is this spell going to be used against us?”

“No. It’s not an offensive spell.” Caroline worded carefully. “From what I know, it’s incapable of causing harm due to its nature.”

“I can help if you want, with the actual magic component” Freya butted it. “You said three reasons. What’s the second reason?”

“To help my daughters.”

“How can you have children, Miss Forbes, you’re a vampire. “

“Please, Elijah, call me Caroline. Look it’s a lot of complicated magic mumbo-jumbo, but babies of a dying witch were put into my body and I gave birth five months ago. I’m the only parent they have left anymore. I have no idea how to raise a baby, let alone a set of magical twins. And Bonnie didn’t know she was a witch until she was a teenager. Before they were born, Josie and Lizzie showed abilities. Its not fair to them if I try to wing it.” Caroline sighed and looked at the siblings, but mostly Freya, “I know it’s a lot for someone you don’t know to ask, but will you please consider helping me?”

Elijah nodded solemnly, while Freya contemplated. Years of living under Dahlia made her distrustful of others, but the Mikaelsons all knew what it was like raising a child with uncontrollable magic. Eventually, she nodded as well and muttered, “I guess it can’t hurt to try. I’m already helping Hope.”

“By the way, where is Hope? And Hayley for that matter?” Caroline was curious. When the girls arrived yesterday, she didn’t sense Klaus’ daughter in the house. She wasn’t worried about Hayley, but felt the polite thing to do was ask.

“Hope’s upstairs sleeping. She was brought back earlier while you were asleep. As for Hayley, she’s a bit…preoccupied at the moment. Nothing for you to worry about.”

The baby vampire looked at the hybrid suspiciously. She knew he was leaving information out. She decided to put that suspicion in her ‘Ask about later’ file along with ‘Cami’ and Klaus’s aunt. “Come on then, love. Why don’t you share the last reason you’re here?”

“I’m keeping a promise to an old friend.”

“Come on, Blondie. Let’s not resort to name-calling just yet.” came the reply from the doorway. “Hello Elijah. I’ve missed you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zamyana = Bulgarian for replacement


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should probably be two chapters, but I didn't know where exactly to split it.

“Katerina. How are you-? I…I thought you were-” Katherine stepped into the room.

“Dead?” she cut him off “Yeah, I was. But I’m Katherine Pierce. I survive.“

Elijah’s face lit up with a level of happiness Freya had never seen and Klaus thought he lost a long time ago. “This is fantastic. We can finally-“

_SLAP!_ Katherine used all her vampire strength to slap the smile off his face. She was really pissed at him for not visiting her on her deathbed and was furious he thought they’d just pick up where they left off. He looked at her in confusion. “That was not being there.”

“Katerina, my love, what do you-“

“I spent five hundred years loving you. For five hundred years, I put up with your idiotic commitment to your psychotic brother, no offense, being the reason we couldn’t be together. And when I was dying, when I needed to see you the most, you weren’t there. “ With the exception of Caroline, who’d already heard this speech, everyone was shocked at the raw emotion Katherine was showing. She didn’t do relationship drama or looking vulnerable. “Your brother, who killed my family and chased me for five hundred years, was there. Your sister who hated me came. But you didn’t.”Elijah stood in silence, not knowing what to say. “There’s a lot you need to make up for before we get back to where we were.”

As Elijah opened his mouth to apologize, the door burst open and a blonde holding two babies zipped into the room. As Katherine went to shut the door, Elijah noticed the woman’s skin was starting to burn. “Thanks! That sunlight thing is a bitch.” Lexi said catching her breath and letting her skin heal. “I don’t know what you guys are doing, but that slap woke up the wonder twins, and I’m not a nanny. “

Caroline huffed, “You know, you didn’t have to run down here.”

“I panicked ok? The last time I was around a baby it was 1678.”

“It’s fine, I can take them. Elijah, Freya I’d like you to meet my daughters. This is Josie and this is Lizzie.” She said, pointing to each baby in turn. “And this is Lexi, another friend back from the dead.”

“Hi.“ she said, collapsing into a chair “I normally make a better entrance, but the sun and I aren’t exactly friends at the moment.” Lexi promptly fainted from the pain.

The siblings nodded at her, confused about her presence. Bonnie was here for the spell, Caroline was here to help her kids and Katherine was here for Elijah, so why was Lexi here?

Freya turned her attention to the twins out of curiosity; they seemed too young to be exhibiting magic. “May I?” she asked, gesturing to the pair.

Caroline nodded and Freya took Lizzie from Caroline’s arms. When Lizzie reached out to touch Freya’s face, she felt a sudden pain where Lizzie touched her and winced. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I forgot to mention that both my daughters are siphoners.”

“It’s ok, I just wasn’t expecting it.” Freya said, trying to calm down the frazzled blonde. “What exactly is a siphoner? How do you know they’re siphoners?”

“It’s a witch who can’t generate their own magic. They absorb it from another source, like another witch or a very powerful spell. We found out they were siphoners when they kept trying to prevent their own births. “ When the occupants of the room looked at her strangely, she continued. “Vampire blood has magic properties. They were feeding off the magic in my blood and didn’t want to leave. Luckily Bonnie and one of the Heretics-.”

“Why are you calling a witch a heretic?” Klaus asked; the name seemed too hostile for the tone she was using.

“Are you going to let me tell the story or not? Bonnie and a Heretic were able to channel enough magic outside of my body to draw the twins out. The Heretics, to answer your question, are a specific type of witches, who also happen to be siphoners. There’s only like three left right now.” Caroline left out the vampiric nature of the Heretics for the time being. No one needed to know just yet that Klaus wasn’t the only type of hybrid in the world.

“Well, this will certainly be interesting.” Klaus said, raising two siphoners was going to be a different battle altogether from raising two witches. At the mention of the Bennett witch, the elder Mikaelson brother got curious. Caroline had mentioned that Bonnie came with her, but he hadn’t seen any proof that she was here. Freya was processing everything Caroline had just said and wondering who Bonnie is and why Caroline seemed so anxious to help her. Obviously, she was a witch, but their connection had to be more than that, Freya thought.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and a voice called out, “Care? Everything all right in there? I heard shouting and screaming. And now it’s way too quiet.”

“Everything’s fine. Come in.”

Bonnie opened the door and stepped into the office. She looked around and noticed the Original brothers, a blonde woman and her road trip companions. She decided to introduce herself to the unknown woman. “Hi. I’m Bonnie. Bonnie Bennett.”

“Freya Mikaelson.” When Freya saw the look of confusion, she added, “It’s a long story.”

“Bonnie here is a Bennett witch, descended from Ayana who helped Mother turn us and Qetsiyah who created the Other Side. “ Klaus explained to Freya and then turned to said witch, “You, of course, remember my brother Elijah.”

The pair briefly exchanged pleasantries. Bonnie turned and looked at the unconscious Lexi. Her skin was completely healed, but the smell of burning skin lingered a bit. "Before we do anything, we need to figure out what to do with her."

"You haven’t found your grimoire yet."

"I know, but she’s been stuck like this for three centuries. If anyone deserved to daywalk it’s Lexi. I just wish there was a way for her to be able to walk around the house during the day."

As soon as Bonnie said that, Caroline's eyes lit up. "Stefan!"

"What about him?" The witch was confused. "He's not a witch, how could he help? Besides, she didn’t want to involve him.”

"No. Don't you remember? When Silas locked him in that safe, he took his daylight ring. So when Qetsiyah dragged her crazy ass back from the Other Side and found him-"

"Of course! Care, you're a genius."

The Mikaelsons and Katherine were silent for the whole conversation, trying to put together the missing pieces. "I'm not arguing that, but why is Caroline a genius?"

"Qetsiyah spelled the cabin she was in. It basically created a barrier and any vampire inside the barrier couldn't be harmed by the sun."

"Can we do the same to your house?" Caroline asked, hoping her doe eyes would convince Klaus. “She’s half the reason I’m even alive right now.”

"Don't you need to find the spell first, love?"

The girls looked at each other and smirked. Bonnie had gotten more than just her magic back before she left the 1994 prison world. "Nope. We got that covered."

Caroline turned back to Bonnie. “Anything super rare we need? I'll go get it." Klaus panicked at that. They'd just arrived in New Orleans a few hours ago and he hadn't had time to warn her about marcel. Or the witches.

"That's not a good idea love. The quarter works...differently than you're used to. A new vampire in the city might draw some unwanted attention. "

Katherine snorted and stood up. "Fine. Then I'll go with her. It's getting a little too tense in here for my tastes anyway"

"There's just one issue. Both of you are vampires. The witches won't sell to either of you." They looked at each other, contemplating what to do. Bennett witches were well known, and they didn't want the witches of the quarter to know about their "secret weapon" just yet. "I'd suggest taking Bonnie but I sense you're trying to avoid that. Then I'd suggest Freya but being seen with a member of my family might end up causing you more problems in the end."

"You know what? I ran from you for five centuries, I can improvise. Push comes to shove, we'll compel a tourist into buying the stuff."

Bonnie had been texting a list of spell ingredients to Caroline while Klaus and Katherine bickered. "This should be everything. Or at least everything I remember."

"Cool. We'll be back later." As the pair left the house, Caroline turned to Katherine and said, "I don't know about you, but I need a drink."

"You read my mind. Between Klaus' goo-goo eyes at you and Elijah's puppy-dog eyes at me I was ready to stab myself."

The girls walked for a while and decided to stop at a bar called Rousseau's. As they entered, they found themselves face-to-face with a young man with brown hair.

"What can I get for you?" He asked warily, these were day walkers he hadn’t seen before.

"Two bourbons." Katherine said. She sensed another person coming up behind her.

“Put it on my bill Josh.” came from the man behind them. Both girls turned and saw an African American man. “And who might you ladies be?”

“Not interested.” Caroline said; she came here to get away from boy drama.

“Oh come on. No need to be unfriendly.” the man sighed, “all right let’s start over. I’m Marcel. And you are?”

“I’m Caroline, that’s Katherine. Bye. “ Caroline got up to leave.

“Wait a second, ok? You’re new to the Quarter. You’re vampires. This is my city, don’t make me angry.”

It was cute that Marcel thought he could scare them. Caroline had the most powerful being on the planet wrapped around her finger and Katherine’s name alone would probably have scared him shitless. Katherine gave him her best ‘I’m being sincere’ face and slammed his face into the bar. She turned to the frightened bartender and told him, “When he wakes up, tell him I don’t take threats or lectures well.”

The pair walked out, and the blonde said, “he was pissing me off too, but that might not have been the smartest idea.”

“Then we’ll deal with it.”

 

The pair walked around until they found the shop Freya had told them about Jardin Gris.

“Didn’t Freya say this was where we need to go?”

As they entered, the witch behind the counter looked up, “get out. I don’t sell to vampires.” the girls turned and walked out, time for plan B. Before they could find a tourist to compel, they came face-to-face with the vampire from the bar, Marcel, who brought some of his friends. “That was rude.”

Katherine was so very done with his bullshit. “So is accosting random women and threatening them.”

“I could kill you and no supernatural in this city would stop me.”

“You could certainly try.”

“You two need to come with me now.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“The hard way then?” Turning to the vampires he brought with him, he gestured to them “Go on”

“Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, the oldest of you is what? Two hundred? I’d rather not ruin my nails over a bunch of children. Plus, the humans might not appreciate a bloodbath in the middle of the street in broad daylight.”

Marcel’s back up got ready to rush the pair, and all Caroline could think was _I really don’t want to have this fight right now. This is why we shouldn’t have gone alone._ The next thing she knew, every vampire except her and Katherine was on the ground. The witch from inside the store came out, “what did that?”

“No idea.”

"You two were just in my store, what did you want?”

“I thought you didn’t sell to vampires.”

“I don’t, lets just say you intrigue me. Well one of you does.” The witch looked to make sure no one else was around. “Just this once, I’ll waive that rule.”

“We know a witch from out of town. She’s studying some pretty old grimoires and asked us to get ingredients”

“Not many witches are friends to your kind”

“She owes us a debt, we’re collecting. Here’s what she needed.”

The witch took the list from her, and began muttering to herself. “The herbs I have, along with the more common ingredients like feathers and candles. I’ll call my source for some of the less common ingredients. Hopefully, she hasn’t left town yet.”

She grabbed her phone and dialed, “hey Nora, are you still in town? I need a favor. I’ve got a serious customer who needs something special…. No not here…. ok, they’ll be there in five minutes.” She hung up “Here’s your stuff. Go to the café on St. Anne’s called Jones. It’s a mile that way. My supplier will be waiting there.”

The girls headed in the direction the witch said and found the café. It was empty, except for one table with a brunette woman sitting at it.

“Nora?” Katherine asked. The woman turned around, and Caroline’s jaw dropped.

“Oh my god. You’re the witches ingredient hook-up?”

“Caroline, what are you doing here? Wait, why is Elena up? Has something happened to Bonnie?” Nora hoped not, Bonnie was the only non-Heretic witch Nora was friends with and didn’t want to lose her.

“Nora, Bonnie’s fine. This is Katherine. The other Petrova doppelganger-”

“The pretty one”

“Katherine, this is Nora. She’s a Heretic. And apparently a purveyor of hard to find spell ingredients.”

“Most witches can’t tell I’m not all witch. They know I’m different but don’t know how or why. Anyways, what spell ingredients do you need?”

“I’ll just give you the list. Anything that the witch at Jardin Gris wouldn’t have is what we need.”

Nora took Caroline’s phone and it. “She’s not just doing one spell is she? This list has too many rare and opposing ingredients for that.” Nora mentally wrote a list of spells they could be used for and came up blank. As she got further down the list, her curiosity got the best of her, “what is she attempting? The last ingredient under ‘maybe’ just says soil from subject’s birthplace. I need to know who it is so I can get it.”

The vampires shared a look. Letting Nora in on they were up to was ultimately Bonnie’s decision. “Don’t worry about that right now. How many of these can you get quickly?”

“I have everything except the abathorn, and mountain ash. Those will take me a few days. I’ll meet you back here in an hour with the rest.”

  

An hour and ten minutes later, the two vampires entered the Abattoir, arms loaded with bags of ingredients.

“Where have you two been, its been three hours,”

Caroline stalled for a moment, “We might have run into a little bit of trouble.”

“Yeah, I smashed some guy named Marcel’s face into a bar and then he tried to ambush us and pick a fight in broad daylight.”

Klaus looked startled at that. “Marcel? Did either of you say anything about me or my family to him?”

“No. Why? Let me guess, he hates you”

“How did you get away?” Bonnie asked

“We had some unexpected help. Guess who we ran into? Nora. She got us most of the rarer ingredients on your list.” Bonnie looked surprised to hear that name but recovered quickly and Caroline continued. “I told her you were in town with us. She says hi and she said getting the abathorn would take a few weeks and she needs to track down someone to find mountain ash.”

“Oh, that’s ok. Those two I don’t need for the sun protection spell.”

Both Originals wanted to ask who this Nora is and why she seemed so knowledgeable about rare spells, but thought better than to do it now.

“That’s gonna have to wait” Lexi said, “the suns almost down, the twins are with Hope and Freya, which means I can explore the city finally. Anyone want to come with?”

“Yeah, Katherine and I found a bar we can go to. Hopefully, we don’t run into Marcel again.”

“You will” came Elijah’s reply “he’s persistent like that. If only Niklaus and I happened to be in that same bar to make sure nothing happens.”

“If only indeed.” Came Klaus’ vague reply.

“I’m going to go check on the girls, I’ll be right back.”

Caroline walked upstairs and opened the door to Hope’s nursery. Freya had all three children on the floor, playing with some toys. “Hey, how are they doing?”

“Good, they seem to really like Hope. “

“I’m sorry I’m dumping them on you like this, its just.... Lexi just got her life back and if anyone deserves a second chance at this, it’s her."

"I get it, you want to help your friend. Besides, I actually like kids and hate being dragged to Rousseau’s by Klaus. But you definitely owe me breakfast and an explanation tomorrow."

"Deal."

As Caroline walked downstairs, she saw Bonnie and Klaus in the middle of an intense standoff. "No, I'm not. I spent the last week planning a funeral and interstate move. And nearly the last year with two lovesick vampires breathing down my neck. I can go to a bar without announcing I'm a Bennett you know. I'm going."

Caroline recognized the 'I'll melt your brain with my magic" face Bonnie was wearing and decided to bypass this argument altogether. "Let's get a move on then" turning to Klaus and Elijah, she said, "wait five minutes, then come to the bar. That way it doesn't look like we're together."

 

The girls walked at human speed towards the bar, discussing the past few days and when they were going to proceed to Step Two of their plan. Katherine was enjoying Elijah's misery while Caroline was cautious about spending too long alone with Klaus. Too much too soon was a bad idea. As they walked into the bar, the patrons turned to look at them and then it got dead quiet. The foursome ignored them and walked towards the bar. "Four shots"

The bartender from earlier looked nervous, like refusing to serve them would end badly for him. With shaking hands, he poured the drinks.

"And here I thought I'd have to hunt you two down" came a voice behind them.

"Marcus, right?"

"Marcel." Other vampires in the bar tensed, getting ready for a fight. "I don't know how you got away last time, but you're on my turf now. Let's make this quick."

"Look Marcel, can I be honest? We're here on vacation. We just want to be left alone. We're also spectacularly not scared of you, so this whole 'it's my city' act is useless. "

Marcel was about to threaten the girls when the Mikaelson brothers walk in. "Ah, Marcellus. What a coincidence."

"Elijah. Klaus. What brings you to Rousseau’s?"

"Do I need an excuse to visit a bar in my own city?"

"Come now, brother. Let's not be impolite."

Lexi had gotten very good at acting over the course of three hundred years. She figured starting some drama would make Marcel, who reminded her of quite a few people she knew as a human, go away, "wait, his city? A second ago, you were bragging about how it's your city, weird." With that last comment, Lexi and the girls walked away.

 The girls found a table in the corner and agreed tonight was going to be business free. They decided to play a game instead. "Ok, someone picks a topic, like most embarrassing moment and gives theirs. Then we go around the circle. The person with the best, or worst story, wins and everyone else drinks."

After a few rounds they learned that Lexi was afraid of clowns, Katherine's favorite place was Ibiza, Bonnie hated Gwyneth Paltrow with a vengeance and Caroline could open any wine bottle with just a knife. Also, all of them wanted to go to Brazil for carnival at some point. While the girls bonded and relaxed, the Mikaelsons and Marcel had a very tense and uncomfortable discussion about who was actually in charge of the city.

After a solid ten minutes of being lectured, Marcel interjected, "Fine. I shouldn't have said it was my city, but there's something off about those four.”

"And what might that be?"

"Three of them reek of magic, strong magic. And those two” he said pointing to Caroline and Katherine, “managed to knock out a group of eleven vampires without even moving. Not even Davina or you can do that."

"Curious. For now, I think we should see where this leads."

Eventually, the girls ran out of drinks and Caroline went to get refills. "Hey, Josh right?"

"Yeah"

"I'm sorry about earlier. My friend, well, she has a troubled past and reacts badly when she feels threatened. I hope we didn't cause you too much trouble."

"It's whatever. "

"Anyway, I just wanted to apologize. I guess I'll see you around." Marcel watched Caroline walk away and approached Josh, hoping the Mikaelsons weren't paying attention. "What did she say to you?"

"She apologized in case her friend's reaction earlier caused me any problems."

Marcel found this odd, normally troublemakers weren't so...nice about it. Maybe if he got on the pairs good side, they could be useful to him.

 

"How are you doing Lexi" Caroline wondered

"Better than when I first got back but this is still a lot more vivid than I remember. It’s like turning all over again.” Caroline was glad she was being so open about this. “I just…I wish there was an in between, not quite a daylight ring, but not trapped in the house all day either.”

 

The next morning, Bonnie and Caroline were up around eight. "Why did we need to do this so early?"

"The sooner I do it, the more time we have for that other thing. Plus, this way, if it doesn't work I've got all day to find another way."

Caroline gave her a "fine" look, "what do we need to do?"

"Go wake up Lexi and one of the originals. "

"Why do you need an original?"

"Owners of the house. Need them to participate in the ritual."

Caroline went upstairs. She woke Lexi up and told her Bonnie might need her for something and to keep an ear out. They had agreed not to tell Lexi about the spell yet, since they didn’t want to get her hopes up. She then found Klaus. His room was.... fitting. Dark tones and antique furniture fit his style and personality well. It also screamed 'you need to know I'm evil' which Caroline thought was a bit much. "Hey Klaus, Bonnie needs you downstairs"

"And why should I go? "

"Because the sooner you do, the more time you'll have to show me your favorite place in the world? Plus, she’ll come up here herself and drag you downstairs if she has to." Caroline felt bad capitalizing on Klaus’ feelings for her, but decided one last performance as the blonde distraction was needed.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't piss off a Bennett witch this early in the day. I'll hold you to that other promise."

"Good, now let's go."

Downstairs, Elijah watched as Bonnie got all the spell ingredients together. As an avid collector of knowledge, this spell intrigued him. Freya had also come down to observe, and possibly learn about another branch of magic.

"Ok, I want to get this done quick, so I need one of you two to place a barrier of salt around the edge of the property." Elijah took the salt and vamped off. When she saw Freya’s confusion, she explained, "it confines the spell to just the house. Otherwise, it will stop at the next natural barrier, which is the Mississippi River."

Elijah returned a few seconds later. "How do you know this will work? I've never seen this spell in any grimoire." He asked as Bonnie began to light some sage.

"It wouldn't be. Qetsiyah wasn't big in writing things down. But it will work." In the center of the courtyard, Bonnie began lighting candles.

"Why burn sage? Everyone here knows what you're doing."

"Yes, but the salt line combined with sage essentially hides the spell until it's done. The other witches will know a spell was cast but not be able to find out what it was. It's like cloaking the spell itself." She turned around holding a knife, "now, who is the owner of this house?” Klaus stepped forward. "Cut your finger, put one drop of your blood on the center candle."

Klaus did as ordered, then stepped away. Bonnie closed her eyes, a second later the flames grew higher and then everything exploded.

 

"What the hell was that?" Lexi said running into the balcony. "Wait I'm not burning. Why aren't I burning?"

"I did a spell to make you immune to the sun while you're on the property. I figured it was a nice in-between while I get my act together.”

Lexi looked ready to cry, she ran over and hugged Bonnie. "Thank you. Now I'm gonna go catch up on four centuries of sunlight." she ran upstairs excitedly.

The Mikaelsons turned to Bonnie, "I'm glad the spell worked, but there was no way one spell caused an explosion."

"That's cause I did more than one"” when they gaped at her she explained, ”The daylight one for Lexi the privacy one, I also cloaked anyone who was on the property from witches other than Freya or me. Lastly, I made it impossible for Rayna or another hunter to be able to track anyone inside the Quarter."

All the Mikaelsons looked at each other confused. Bonnie had been powerful before, but nothing compared to this. To perform four spells concurrently would take more energy than any witch they’d ever seen.

"You did all of that in under two minutes?"

"Clearly your time on the Other Side was well spent"

 

**MEANWHILE**

Davina Claire was starting to get annoyed. Over the last month, her power had decreased noticeably. She wasn’t the only one; all the witches in New Orleans felt the same drop in the energy around them. Something was wrong. She knew other coven elders would blame it on her youth and her being unfit to be regent.

All of a sudden, Davina felt wrong. Like a part of her had been blocked from her consciousness. A few moments later, she felt this burst of power. It didn’t pass through her; instead it was like a wave of it hit her. She couldn’t harness it but it was able to impact her. It was gone before she could even think to follow the energy or trace it.

She decided to call a meeting of the Elders. Whatever had just happened could mean changes for the covens. When the last of the Elders arrived, she spoke, “Earlier this morning, a powerful spell was cast somewhere in the French Quarter. For some unknown reason, the Ancestors have been unable to tell me where. They told me they were unable to determine what spell was cast. As of right now, our concern is finding the witch.”

The Elder of each coven left and Davina decided to seek the advice of her friend Michelle. She was the only witch friend of Davina’s that hadn’t been involved in the Harvest. As Regent, sometimes she needed an unbiased person to bounce ideas off of. “Something’s changed. “

“We all know that. Even Vincent, who gave up magic, can feel it.”

“Its not just that. There was a massive amount of magic used earlier today and not even the ancestors can tell me who or why. For all I know, an outside coven could be trying to claim the land and steal our connection to the ancestors.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know. But please, be careful.”

Davina was worried for her friend. Michelle’s family had made a deal with the devil centuries ago and the family had recently decided to collect on that debt. Of course, the family in question was the Originals. She feared if she said no or betrayed them, something much worse than the Other Side would befall her family.

The Regent also knew that the Mikaelsons were either behind the spell earlier or effected by it. Either way, Michelle would hopefully find out and report back.

 

Freya decided this was too much weird too early, and it was time for answers she turned to Caroline and said, "You owe me breakfast, I'm cashing in."

"All right, let me go grab the twins"

The pair left, babies in hand, and observed the sleeping city. "Do you have any place in mind? I imagine you want to go somewhere quiet for me to explain and where we won't be noticed."

"There's a place just outside the city, near the bayou that should work. This is going to be a long conversation."

“To be fair, there’s some stuff you need to explain as well.”

The diner they found themselves at was thankfully pretty empty this early. Freya ordered eggs benedict and Caroline chose pancakes.

“So tell me about Katherine or whoever she is. The only time anyone mentioned a Katherine was when Klaus used her death to try and goad Elijah into fighting. I feel like I’m missing part of the story.”

“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.” Caroline paused, “do you know about the curse your mother put on Klaus?” the witch nodded “He needed to sacrifice a Petrova doppelgänger to break it. In the late 1400s, he became aware of a doppelgänger from Bulgaria known as Katerina. She found out he intended to sacrifice her, so she ran and tricked a vampire into turning her. Klaus killed her whole family and hunted her for 500 years. She eventually started going by Katherine Pierce.”

“What about her and Elijah?”

“They fell in love when she was human, and after she escaped, they still were.”

“How did she die? She’s pissed at Elijah because she was dying and he wasn’t there.”

“Did either of your brothers tell you about Silas?” Freya shook her head, “so Silas was the first immortal. Qetsiyah invented the immortality spell your mother modified to make vampires. She also created a cure for immortality, hoping Silas would take it and become trapped on the Other Side. Katherine had the cure shoved down her throat and turned human. Then Silas drank her blood to get the cure, and she started aging. She died of old age shortly after.”

“If the Other Side collapsed, how is she back?”

“A loophole apparently. The Other Side was created using a doppelgänger and a few other supernatural ingredients. Less than a year ago, those same ingredients, minus the doppelgänger, were used to collapse a prison world, which is an alternate supernatural dimension. In order to balance itself out, the universe resurrected the last doppelgänger who died, Katherine.”

The food came around this time and the girls began to dig in. “Bonnie?”

“She was the Anchor to the Other Side when it collapsed. She got transported to some other dimension or something, which she escaped. She could explain it better.” Josie started to cry and Caroline began rocking her. “Now, about you…”

“What about me?”

“You’re not a vampire, and you were born over 1000 years ago. No witch should be capable of that. How are you alive?”

“My aunt, Dahlia. Esther promised the first born of her descendants in return for a cure for infertility.”

“So that’s why she gave you away.”

“Yes. She wanted to live long enough to benefit from my mother’s promise, so she came up with a unique way to escape death: she tied our magic together and put both of us to sleep for a century. We would wake up and live for a year, age and harness the magic we accrued in that time, and then go back to sleep.”

“So what happened? I’m noticing a past tense here”

“Hope was born. Esther promise Dahlia the first born of every generation of descendants. Dahlia came for Hope, wanting to bind her and Hope together and we found a way to kill her.”

“How?”

“It gets weird and technical, but it ends with us resurrecting Esther and Esther sacrificing herself so we could kill Dahlia. Then they both passed on.”

Caroline looks up from her food in shock. “When did this happen?”

“End of last month. Why?”

“We need to finish this conversation back at the house.”

“Wait, what?”

“There’s someone else we need to talk to.”

 

When the girls got back to the house, Caroline called out “everyone get down here”

“What is it love?”

“What?”

“I exist for the first time in four years, what’s so important?”

“Wait.” Freya said, “I can sense that you've been alive for centuries, why are you making up for four years of time?”

Caroline quickly interrupted to keep the conversation on track. “If what I think happened, happened, I’ll explain in a second.” Looking between Freya and Bonnie she said, “Tell her what you told me at the diner.”

“We resurrected my mother and she sacrificed herself so we could kill our more powerful aunt.”

Bonnie and Caroline looked at each other and had a silent conversation. They both felt like they knew the answer to Bonnie's next question. “When was this?”

“End of February.”

“What was the exact date?”

“February 26th.”

“That’s…that’s the day…the day I….” Lexi stuttered out

“The day you what?”

“The day I got resurrected, or night actually.”

“Was your aunt here at any point?”

The siblings nodded, “we tried, and failed to kill her once here.”

“That’s why this place felt familiar. “ everyone turned to look at Bonnie. “Think of it like this, the ritual that killed Dahlia left a imprint on this place. I sensed something like it when she found us.”

“So their death brought me back? That makes no sense.”

“I don’t think it did, I think when the door to the Afterlife opened, you got pulled out as they got pulled in. You said it yourself, you heard something open and felt drawn to it. Then you woke up here. I think you can back as a side effect to what Nature tried to do.”

“Which is what?”

“Balance itself out. I just don’t know how.” an idea came to Bonnie, she knew how to find out what was done, “Is there a witch other than Freya in this city that you trust? I need them to be here in about four hours. I have to get to Baton Rouge”

“Why?”

“Its the closest resting place of a non-ancestral witch, which means there must be family near by”

No one knew how to ask how exactly bonnie knew any of that or what she needed with a dead persons grave.

“I guess I will call Michelle. See if she’ll come.”

 

A few hours later Bonnie had returned, Arianna Rastova and her family had been very helpful with Bonnie’s inquiries. Arianna happened to be in the city when Dahlia died and felt something change in the magic of the city that same day. When they contacted the spirits, they were flabbergasted by what the answer was.

 

Michelle was wondering why she had been called to the Mikaelsons. When she asked what she was needed for, Klaus gave her a nonresponse. That combined with what Davina had told her she sensed earlier made her wary that she was walking into a trap.

“Ah Michelle. Thank you for joining us.”

“Why am I here Klaus?”

“In truth, we don’t know ourselves.” Elijah stated, “A reliable source asked us for a witch other than Freya that we trusted not to lie, so here you are.”

“Yes, so lets get to the bottom of this. I’m Bonnie.”

“Michelle.”

“I need to ask you a few things, then if what you tells me fits with what I suspect, I’ll explain”

“Sounds weird but ok”

“Do you currently practice magic?” Michelle nodded. “Do you practice Ancestral magic”

“Yes.”

“Has your family always practiced ancestral magic?”

“Since my ancestors came to New Orleans”

“Have you noticed a change in the city in last few weeks?”

“Something seems off”

“Has your level of magic changed recently?”

“Yes, about three weeks ago…we all noticed a drop in our power levels”

Bonnie thought for a second, she knew what was wrong, but it wasn’t time for the covens to know. She decided to stall the witches for a few days. “Its not the thing I suspected. It seems a lot more complicated. I can continue looking into it if you like but I don’t have an answer for now.”

“I appreciate that. Am I allowed to let the covens know?”

“Just tell them someone who practices a different type of magic is looking into it.”

“Should I come here if I need to find you?”

“No. I’ll find you. I’m a pretty talented witch after all. I promise to keep you updated.”

“May I ask, why are you so willing to help us?”

“Because we witches need to stick together.” Plus, Bonnie needed an ally within the New Orleans witch community. With that, the girl left, hoping her news would placate her coven for a little while.

 As soon as Bonnie was sure the girl was gone, she asked Caroline to ‘get everyone down here’. While they were waiting, Elijah turned to Bonnie, “Miss Bennett, may I ask you a favor in return for my help with your ancient spell?”

“You can ask”

“There’s a rather powerful spell I need your help undoing.”

“I guess I can at least look into it. No promises though.”

Elijah then got distracted when Katherine appeared. He’d been trying to see her all day, beg for her forgiveness, but she’d been able to avoid him thus far.

Everyone came downstairs and the group looked at Bonnie expectantly. “I know what Nature did when Dahlia and Esther died and why it’s only effecting New Orleans witches.”

“What happened?”

“They were both powerful witches. When they died together, it released a massive amount of supernatural energy. Nature used that energy to damage the link to the Ancestral Plane.”

“So they’re losing their magic?’

“Not exactly. When you consecrated your mother, who never practiced ancestral magic, here, it gave too much unchecked energy to the witches. That angered the forces of Nature, which in return, kept her from rejoining the Ancestors and damaged their link to this world”

“What do you mean damaged?”

“They haven’t lost their magic, they just can’t call on as many anymore. They’re less powerful. I don’t know how or if it will effect the Regent.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

“How did you come by this information?”

“Because, its not the time for them to know yet. In a few weeks, the process is complete. Nature has decided the New Orleans witches were too powerful for too long. They’re all being punished. I went to Baton Rouge for two reasons; one was to see if a living traditional witch felt what happened and the second was to get answers from a spirit.”

“I thought when the Other Side collapsed, the Spirits went away and Sprit magic became impossible.”

“Not for me. It’s complicated.”

“That seems to be your answer for everything. I think its time you explain what happened earlier today, how you seem to know so much and mostly, how you were able to perform four spells at once.”

The witch looked to Caroline for support. “I’m not going to argue one way or the other Bon. Its your story to tell.” It was her story, but not just hers. After all, how was she supposed to explain to two of the most powerful beings on the planet that she was walking around with Qetsiyah inside her head? That she had more power running through her veins than any being before her.

“I got more than just my magic back when I returned from the dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's going on with Bonnie? What does Elijah need? Will we ever know? (Yes, but I like introducing plot threads and introducing a problem but not solving it for five chapters.)


	6. Chapter 6

“I guess I should start with the 1994 prison world. After the Other Side collapsed, my Grams made sure I wouldn’t be erased from existence by guiding my spirit into a different dimension. It existed in a time loop; the same date in 1994 lived over and over again. It was the prison dimension where the Gemini coven trapped Kai after he tried to kill his family. At first, I thought he needed my magic to siphon for his escape, so I sent it back into this plane by putting it into a teddy bear. It turns out he just needed my blood, which he took and escaped. I was trapped there. The prison worlds were exact copies of the world as it was on that day, so the 1994 one had cars while the 1903 didn’t. Since it was an exact copy of 1994, the cure and Silas’ tombstone existed there. I used Qetsiyah's blood from the tombstone to escape. When I got my magic back, her blood was still powering me. As a result, it kind of fused us together.”

“What do you mean fused?”

“I have her power in addition to mine, since I’m a descendant of hers, the extra magic doesn’t harm me. I have her memories, but they come and go. It’s how I knew how to perform the daylight protection spell on the house. And the one to cloak everyone.”

“That doesn’t explain how you were able to talk to the witch’s spirit in Baton Rouge”

“I've told you all you need to know for now.”

**Meanwhile-**

Michelle ran to Davina’s house, the experience at the Abattoir fresh in her mind. She promised to tell her everything she discovered, and while she didn’t have an answer, she did have a possible lead. “Hey, so the Mikaelsons called me to their house earlier”

Davina turned abruptly to face her. “Did they threaten you?” The family had ruined her one chance to get Kol back, if they started threatening her friends too, consequences be damned.

“No. They called me there to talk to another witch. An non-ancestral witch.” The Regent was wary of this news, if the Originals were bringing outsiders into the city, things just got a lot more complicated.

“What did she say?”

“She asked me a bunch of questions about my family’s past and if my powers had changed. She also asked if others in the city were experiencing the same thing.” Davina’s paranoia grew as her friend continued.

“Why would a witch from outside the city care?”

“I don’t know. It seemed like she was looking for a specific answer from me. She did promise to look further into it and contact me if she found something.”

“I don’t understand why she’d want to help though.”

“She told me that 'us witches' need to stick together.” She wanted to believe that, but Davina knew first hand that no one in the world does something for free.

“Let me know if and when she gets back to you. What did this witch say her name was?”

“Bonnie. No last name.”

 

**BACK TO THE MAIN STORY:**

“So you have extra witch powers now and didn’t think to tell us that in the beginning.” Klaus looked ready to kill, his recent experience with overpowered witches was fresh in his mind.

“I didn’t trust you. Let’s not forget that both of you in one way or another have tried to kill me in the past. The only person I trusted with this, with all of this, is Caroline.“ Both Originals went to argue, when they found themselves paralyzed with pain, “Look, neither of you have the right to demand anything from me. I suggest you accept that now.”

Bonnie stomped out of the room; as soon as she left, the brothers were able to move. Elijah turned to Caroline and asked, “Why didn’t you inform us of this development then?”

“As I said, it wasn’t my story to tell. Bonnie had enough people demanding things from her before the Anchor fiasco. The fewer people who know about her ‘upgrade’ the better. She’s under enough stress right now as it is. I’m gonna go check on the girls.”

 

**THE NEXT DAY**

Elijah had decided the best next step with Bonnie was to apologize. In the past, they had been enemies, but even then, he knew how advantageous having a Bennett witch as an ally could be. He also owed it to Hayley and her pack, and especially Hope, to exhaust every option to reverse Dahlia’s spell. He found Bonnie that morning, in the kitchen preparing her breakfast. “I must apologize for myself and my brother last night.”

“I get the feeling you’ve made that statement a few hundred times over the last millennia.”

“Probably. It still doesn’t excuse our behavior. You were correct though, we have no right to demand answers from you. The only excuse I can give is that, given the last few months we’ve had, incredibly powerful witches have caused our family more harm than good.”

“That’s because they wanted or needed something from you. I don’t need you, your help just streamlines the process.”

“Understood.”

“Thank you. Now, while I appreciate the apology, I think you want something.”

“Yes, I do. I’d like to talk about the spell I asked you about undoing yesterday. “

“What does the spell do and why do you want it undone?”

“Dahlia, trying to get Niklaus on her side, cursed Hayley’s pack. Hayley and the pack were going to leave with Hope. They are forced to remain in their wolf forms all month with the exception of the full moon. “

“And you want me to turn them back.” Bonnie finished for him. She thought for a second, the resurrection spell for Kol would require an unknown amount of power. It made more sense to test out her abilities on a less ancient and complicated spell first. Uncursing an entire pack of werewolves would give her a better gauge than the spells she’d performed most recently. “I’ll do it, but just so you know, the only reason I’m doing this, is because the little girl upstairs needs her mother. “

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, I need the actual spell to even begin trying to undo it. It also might take a few months to undo.”

Elijah nodded, “Understandable. I’m afraid finding out the exact spell may be…uncomfortable for you.”

“How?”

“My brother heard Dahlia perform the spell. The only place I know it can be found is-“

“In his memories. Great.” Bonnie replied sarcastically, “I get to dig through the mind of a thousand year old mass murderer. Its your job to get him to agree.” She stomped out of the room, muttering. Elijah sighed, wondering how he’d get his paranoid brother to agree to anything, much less a witch digging through his brain. Just then, Caroline walked in, holding one of the twins.

“Good morning Elijah. Thank god someone’s down here. Can you watch Josie real quick, so I can go grab Lizzie? I promise I’ll be back in two seconds.” He nodded and the young blonde flashed upstairs. A few seconds later, she returned with Lizzie in her right arm and Hope holding onto her left. “Look who’s awake?” Caroline looked at Elijah and noticed the sad look on his face. “Sorry. Did I do something wrong? Did I interrupt her morning ritual or something?”

Elijah brought himself back to reality and said, “No. I’m just worried that Hope might miss her mother. And I know Hayley misses her.”

Caroline nodded, “can I ask a question that’s not my business? Where exactly is Hayley? Klaus dodged the question when I asked.”

“Dahlia cursed Hayley, and her pack, in order to keep Hope in New Orleans. They are stuck as wolves the whole month except during the full moon.”

“And she probably took Hayley’s hybridism into account when cursing them.” Caroline concluded, “Is this the spell you were asking Bonnie about yesterday?”

Elijah nodded, unsure how she’d feel about it. Last night she let the brothers know how she felt about people exploiting Bonnie for her magic. He also got the feeling that staying on the blonde’s good side wasn’t the worst idea. “She agreed to look into it. I know you are protective of her, does this upset you?”

“Did you yell, threaten or blackmail Bonnie into agreeing?”

Elijah shook his head, dumbfounded. “No.”

Caroline continued. “If she doesn’t give you the answer you want are you going to try to hurt or kill her?” Again, the Original shook his head. No wonder the blonde was so protective of the witch. “Then, no it doesn’t upset me. I’m pretty sure she’d help out of curiosity.”

As Caroline finished feeding the three children, Katherine walked in. She looked between the two and said “Morning,” as she went to grab some coffee.

“Hey”

“Good morning Katerina.”

Caroline looked very uncomfortable and hoped there’d be no violence this time around. Katherine decided she needed to talk to Elijah sometime and figured now was the best place to start. “Caroline, could you give Elijah and I some privacy? We have a lot to discuss.”

“Sure.” Caroline said, happy to have an excuse to get away from this awkwardness. “I’m going to take the girls and find Klaus.”

“No need, love.” Came a voice from the hall. He entered the kitchen and picked up Hope. “How are you this morning, my littlest wolf?”

The girl giggled at her father and the twins began to gurgle. Caroline turned to Klaus and said, “Why don’t we go somewhere and talk? I feel like we have a lot to discuss too.” The hybrid nodded and they left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we know what Bonnie claims to have happened, but is it the truth? The whole truth? How will the Kalijah and Klaroline conversations pan out? Why do I ask so many rhetorical questions?


	7. Chapter 7

**Bonnie:**

Bonnie sat on her bed and closed her eyes, muttering a spell.

**_“Hello little witch.”_ **

“Kol” she said, voice breaking, “where have you been? I’ve been trying to talk to your spirit for months.”

**_“I know. My mother dragged me back from the Other Side temporarily a few months ago. I just got back to… wherever this is.”_ **

“I’m so happy to see you.”

**_“Of course you are. I mean I’m awesome.”_ **

Bonnie rolled her eyes; it was nice to know that Kol hadn’t changed. “I’m looking for a way to bring you back” she confessed.

“ ** _Is that why you’re in New Orleans? “ he asked, when she nodded his demeanor changed. “Bonnie, you can’t. This could kill you.”_**

“It won’t. I have to at least try. I mean…. you’re the only person who understands what those few months were like. I... I need you to not be dead.”

**_Kol’s spirit took a step back. “Fine. Just, don’t expect me to be happy about it if it hurts you.”_ **

 

**Freya and Lexi**

Lexi was stretched out in the middle of the courtyard. “God I missed this.”

“I can tell.” Came Freya’s amused voice to her left.

Lexi turned to look at her, “do you need something?”

“No. Just thought I’d enjoy my coffee out here.” The vampire nodded, warily. She knew the witch wanted something, but chose to wait for her to bring it up. “Being back is weird, isn’t it?”

“I guess. I mean, I was dead for a few years and you were off asleep or whatever for decades. But yeah, weird.”

“And now you’re trying to figure out how to live the immortal life you’ve got and I’m trying to connect with siblings with a thousand years of emotional baggage.”

“At least your best friend’s brother didn’t kill you.” Lexi interjected wryly. “Look, its not that I don’t enjoy this heart-to-heart, but what’s this about?”

“It’s the only real common ground we have. I also get the feeling you need to vent a little. I’m not saying I want to be best friends, but if you need to talk I’m here.”

“Thanks. It’s a little weird that the only people who know I’m alive is a bunch of people I don’t know and my best friend’s new best friend.”

 

**Katherine and Elijah**

 Elijah stared at Katherine, unsure of what to say. She, on the other hand, had a question she needed to ask before any feeling came up. “Did you grieve?” Elijah looked at her confused. “When you heard I died, did you at least mourn me?”

“Yes. I mourned. And I cried and I grieved and I said goodbye. And I nearly daggered Rebekah for not telling me until after. “

“You didn’t know?”

“No. Neither of my siblings felt the need to tell me until after you were gone. I understand that you hate me, but that’s nothing compared to how much I hated myself. “

“I don’t hate you. I’m just, very angry.”

“You don’t?”

“Elijah, my soul got dragged back from the Afterlife. And the only thing I wanted to do was see you.“ Katherine sat back, unused to showing such emotion. Elijah nodded, lost in his own thoughts.

“Is there…. is there a chance for us to be together?”

“That depends. Do you love her?” at Elijah’s confused look, the doppelganger elaborated. “Hayley. I can’t do another love triangle. Do you love her?”

“Is this about the curse I asked Miss Bennett to look into? Katerina, I want Hayley to return to normal for Hope’s sake. She’s my niece’s mother. I don’t love her.”

“Good. Then, yes there is a chance, and I’m willing to take it. I just need time. There’s a lot of backstabbing and double-crossing we both need to work past.” Elijah nodded, sad but hopeful. Katherine was willing to give him a chance, which was more than he felt he deserved.

**Caroline and Klaus**

Caroline and Klaus, along with Hope. Lizzie and Josie went into Hope’s playroom. They placed the girls onto the floor with some toys and stared at each other. “Not to push you, sweetheart, but is now the time for that emotional conversation we were holding off?”

“Yeah. I just don’t know where to start. A lot has happened in the last two years.”

“The beginning would be the best place, logically.”

“Ok smartass. Why don’t you start then?”

“Very well. My daughter’s mother is cursed, partly because of me, a man I once saw as my son tried to kill me and I have no idea how to be a father.”

“I can beat that. I missed my mother’s last moments, the guy I liked rejected literally over my mom's dead body, I turned my humanity on just in time for the wedding from Hell, for a month my own boyfriend couldn’t touch me because of a witch, and I recovered from an impossible pregnancy just in time for the father to be murdered. “

“I’m sorry about your mother. And the ex-school teacher. What’s this about a witch? And who were you making out with?” he asked, trying not to sound jealous.

“Don’t give me that look. Whatever we are wasn’t going on at the time. I decided to pursue my feelings for Stefan, and our first kiss was as my mother was dying. After I turned my emotions back on, we decided to give it a try. When the Heretics came to Mystic Falls, one of them, who had a history with Stefan, put a spell on me. It basically made my skin feel like vervain to anyone that touched me. “

Klaus looked surprised by this news. The Ripper didn’t seem like Caroline’s type. “And are you two still an item?”

“No. I guess I got tired of being second choice. Again.” Klaus sensed that his was a sensitive subject for her and resisted the urge to push the issue. He was a little happy that Stefan was no longer an obstacle. “Now, tell me about Marcel. “

“I raised him. When I met him, he was a ten-year-old slave. He didn’t even have a name. I took him in, raised him, and when he was older, I turned him. In 1919, Mikael came to New Orleans and tried to kill my siblings and I. He chained Marcel on the stage of the theater and set it on fire. We believed he died that night. When Katerina lured me down here, I discovered he was still alive, and had taken control of the city. He had decades to track us down but he didn’t. Anyway, I took back control of my city and now we’re uneasy allies.”

Caroline wanted a break from having to talk about her own problems, so she decided to bring up a few other mysteries that were bothering her. “And Cami?”

“Nothing happened. I needed to get close to her in order to overthrow Marcel. “ The hybrid then panicked, thinking she might believe he gave up on being her last love, and hurriedly added, “When I said I intended to be your last love, I meant it.”

Caroline however, found his story ironically hilarious, and began to laugh. “So you did to Marcel what my friends and I used to do to you back in Virginia.”

“I guess I never thought of it that way.” He said, joining her in laughing.

“And I know.” Klaus looked at her in confusion. She decided she needed to lay her feelings out on the table.“I know you want to be my last love, I just need time. Like I said, a lot has happened and I’m still processing most of it. So, I kind of need you to back off from declarations like that. I want to spend time with you, I want to get to know you, but I need to do this at my pace. Is that ok?”

“Of course. I think though, we may need to change one or more of the girls.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reality catches up (or we find out what everyone else is doing)

**Mystic Falls**

Matt stormed into the Lockwood mansion, worried. Stefan, Damon and Enzo looked up at him. “Have any of you seen Caroline?”

“No, haven’t seen her since the funeral.”

“She’s probably off shopping somewhere.”

“Well, I just went by her house and its completely empty.”

“What do you mean, empty?”

“I mean everything is gone. Its like she packed up and moved in the middle of the night.” The three vampires looked back and forth at each other. No one had heard from the blonde in a week. Leaving in the middle of the night wasn’t Caroline’s style, which was worrisome. Her stuff being gone was a good sign though, since it meant she hadn’t been kidnapped.

“Look, when Judgy gets back, we’ll have her do a locator spell. Don’t give yourself a heart attack.”

Matt rolled his eyes, and turned to walk out. “You know what? I’ll find her myself. “

The vampires, sans Stefan, went back to their conversation about the good old days. The younger Salvatore sat guiltily. He was no longer with Caroline, but she was still his friend and he guilty. Caroline had lost so much in the last year and he hadn’t even bothered to check on her in the last week. He told himself that she was probably fine, even though it felt like a lie.

Matt decided the best place to start was Caroline’s house. Most of her personal things were gone, but maybe she’d left some clue as to where she was. Going through the kitchen drawers he found takeout menus and a few odd bits of junk mail but nothing helpful. She had made the house look like it had been empty since Liz died.

Since Caroline had obviously left town and left no hint of where was she going, he decided to risk calling Bonnie. The witch was on a mission according to Damon, but she might have some idea where the blonde vampire went. After a few seconds of ringing, the phone picked up.

“Hello?”

“Bonnie. It’s Matt. No one’s seen Caroline since the funeral. Have you heard from her?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, which concerned him. “Yes, did you try calling her?”

“No” he said, feeling a little foolish for rushing to a conclusion. “I guess I should have done that first.”

“Matt, its fine. Next time, call me after she doesn’t pick up.”

The pair said their goodbyes and hung up. Matt then stared at the phone, hoping this was all a big misunderstanding. He quickly dialed her number. “Hi Matt. Its nice to hear from you.”

“Care, where have you been? No one’s seen you for days ad your house is completely empty.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Well, what’s going on?”

“I needed to get out of Mystic Falls. Between my mom and Alaric dying and Rayna hanging over our heads I needed to get the twins, and myself, somewhere safe.”

“But you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Where are you?”

“That doesn’t matter. I’m all right, so are the girls and I’ll keep in touch.” She sounded cagey, like she wasn’t telling him something.

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

“Nope.”

Matt decided not to press, “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. Call me in a few days.”

 

**New Orleans**

Rebekah was beginning to lose hope. Yes, she’d found her way back to Eva’s body, but she was no closer to bringing Kol back. There had to be a way. She decided a brief visit to her siblings, both to catch up and consult with Freya, might help. At the very least, she could see Hope for a few minutes. Walking into the abattoir, she found her sister talking to a blonde she didn’t recognize.

“Hello Freya, I need to ask you a magic related question.”

 “Sure, what is it? This is Lexi by the way. Lexi, my sister Rebekah.”

“Not to be rude, or a know-it-all, but that’s not Rebekah.”

“How do you know that?” Rebekah asked the woman.

“Because Stefan and I are friends and he told me about you. I also spent years on the Other Side watching the whole doppelganger saga unfold.”

“She’s stuck in a witch’s body at the moment.” Freya said, trying to diffuse the tension.

“If you were on the Other Side, how are you here?”

“Magic mumbo-jumbo, Bonnie can explain it better.”

“The Bennett witch is here?”

“Yes, and Caroline and Katherine, who’s alive again” Lexi added, unsure if she was helping or not. “We didn’t bring anyone else though.”

“I need a drink.” Rebekah walked out of the building perplexed. She hadn’t planned on running into anyone from Mystic Falls ever again. Although she was annoyed, she had a glimmer of hope; if Bonnie knew how Lexi and Katherine were back, she might know how to bring Kol back.

 

**The Bayou**

Hayley was pissed. It had been weeks since the pack had been cursed. Two weeks since she was last able to hold her daughter, and now all she could do was wait, and plan. She was going to give Klaus the ass kicking of a lifetime. As she prowled the bayou, plotting her revenge, she felt three people nearby, two of which felt familiar. Turning to look she saw Elijah, one of the untriggered kids in the pack, and a young African American woman who she recognized from somewhere.

“The wolves used to stay in this part of the bayou last time. I don’t know if they liked it or if it was because it’s closer to the city for when they turn back. I guess this might be the best place to start to find Hayley.”

“Thank you Nick.” Elijah said.

The teen nodded, “What should I tell the others? You know, the wolves who haven’t activated their curse yet. I know it hasn’t even been a month, but they’re still getting antsy…”

“Tell them I’m working on it.” Came the woman’s reply, “I’m doing all that I can to break the spell, but I’m not sure how long it will take.”

Nick nodded and walked away. Elijah and the woman turned and saw a few wolves in the bushes looking towards them. Elijah foolishly hoped that Hayley was one of them, and that the wolves could understand him. “Hello, I hope you can understand me. Do any of you know where Hayley or Jackson are?” The wolves perked up at that, which he took as a yes. “Are either of them here?” Two wolves separated themselves from the group and came forward. “I know how insulting this is, and I apologize, but if you are Hayley and Jackson, bark twice.” The two wolves barked, and Elijah sighed in relief. “Now it’s your turn, Miss Bennett.”

She turned to look at both of them, unsure of where to start. “Hi Hayley, I don’t know if you remember me from Mystic Falls, but I’m Bonnie.”

The female wolf raised her hackles; the last visitor from Mystic Falls tried to kill her. Hayley also had made quite a few enemies there as a result of her deception. Realizing Hayley felt threatened, Bonnie raised her hands in an ‘I’m harmless’ gesture and continued.

“I’m not here to hurt you or for revenge or anything. I’m a witch; Elijah asked me to undo the curse on your pack. I hope it won’t take long, but I’m not sure at this point. I felt like knowing someone was working on it might help. I’m going to come back the night of the full moon so we can talk about it.”

The witch then stepped back, indicating that she was finished. Elijah then spoke, “I’ll bring Hope here in a few days so you can at least see her, I know she misses you. Please, stay safe.”

Hayley was excited for the first time in two weeks. She’d get to see Hope again soon and, more importantly, now the pack could have some hope. As the witch, Bonnie, was talking, Hayley realized why she was familiar. Shane had been obsessed with Bonnie’s bloodline and magic during the find-Silas debacle.

Jackson was confused. He didn’t understand why Elijah seemed so confident in the young woman’s ability. It took over a decade for the curse to be undone last time, but the witch seemed almost cocky in her belief she could have it undo such a massive spell. Hayley’s reaction to hearing she was from Mystic Falls also concerned him. What had happened in that town to make her react like that?

 


	9. Chapter 9

A week later, not much had changed. Klaus and Caroline were still dancing around each other, Kol was still giving Bonnie judging looks from the spirit world and Katherine was trying to rebuild her ‘friendship’ with Elijah. Freya and Lexi had gotten closer, and luckily, there was no supernatural crisis at the moment.

Bonnie walked up to Klaus and said without preamble, “I need a look inside your brain.” Her trip last week to the Bayou weighed heavy on her mind.

“What? First of all, why do you need it and second, why would I let you, a witch who’s tried to kill me on multiple occasions, look inside my brain?” Klaus asked. 

“Trust me, I’m not exactly thrilled about it myself. Because I need to undo the curse on Hayley, and the spell is trapped in your memory.”

“Why do you care about the little wolf?”

“Because Elijah asked. Because Hope needs her mother. And because I want to help.” Bonnie exhaled in frustration, she was starting to run out of time. “Look, we have two options, one: you can let me do it now and it can be painless. Two: I give you an aneurism and do it anyway, which will hurt. Your choice.”

There was an edge to Bonnie’s voice when she spoke, like it wasn’t all Bonnie he was talking to. The hybrid decided for once to take the path of least resistance. He rolled his eyes and said, “Fine. Just don’t stay in there too long.”

“I’ll try to curb my curiosity.” Bonnie grabbed his forehead and closed her eyes, before she could begin chanting she was interrupted.

“What are you doing?” asked Caroline.

“I need to look at his memory to undo the Crescent Wolf Curse. He’s the only person on this plane of existence who’s seen it performed.” The blonde nodded, satisfied and sat down. Bonnie turned to look at the Original who looked bored and said, “I’ve only done this once before so it may take some time.“

“Well, I’m very busy, so how do we speed this up?”

“When I start to chant, I need you to think back on the night Dahlia cursed them. Its easier than digging through a thousand years of memories.”

“Fine.” Klaus closed his eyes and bonnie started to chant. She was quickly dragged into one of Klaus’ memories.

_“We need more time, Klaus. Dahlia needs a full moon to bind Hope to her. Find a way to distract her.” Freya urged her brother._

_“How am I supposed to do that? The only thing she needs for this that she doesn’t have is Hope.”_

_“Who’s with Hayley, and her pack, in the Bayou. If only they were still cursed.” Freya replied matter-of-factly._

_“What are you saying?” Rebekah asked, “We serve the wolves up to her to buy time?”_

_“Yes.” Freya replied annoyed, she turned to Klaus. “Hayley wants to protect Hope, you want to protect Hope. If Dahlia is cursing the wolves, she can’t also be binding Hope to her. It gives us another 28 days to kill her. It’s a crappy plan but it is a plan.”_

_Klaus looked reluctant until a thought came to him, “She’ll see it as me surrendering to her. By cursing Hayley, I’d be siding with her, against you, to protect Hope. If I phrase it right, she’d probably fall for it.”_

_The memory dissolved into Klaus, Hayley, an older dark-haired woman and a group of wolves standing in a junkyard. The woman was chanting and the wolves were in the middle of transitioning._

_“Now, you’ll be trapped in your wolf form, save for the full moon, leaving you very little time to cause any further mischief. And, because of the Unification ritual linking you to your pack, they’ll share your fate.”_

_“Please. Please don’t do this, Klaus. She’s gonna steal our baby.”_

_“It was you who tried to steal MY child. And for that, you will suffer.”_

Bonnie tried to pull out of Klaus’ head, but was dragged into one last memory.

_Klaus bounced Hope on his knee, happy that she was safe and Dahlia was no more._

_“Hayley and the wolves are fine, considering.” Came Rebekah’s voice from the doorway._

_“Did you tell her?”_

_“I told her Hope was safe. Somehow, I don’t think that made her less angry. “_

_“Well, luckily, I’ve got time to prepare for her wrath.”_

“Well, that was an experience.” Klaus said.

“So that’s why you let Dahlia curse her.” Bonnie said.

“It was the only way to get more time.” Klaus said.

“You need to tell her.” Bonnie stated. “Whether I break the spell in a week or not, she needs to know why you did this.”

“No, she doesn’t. She hates me already, what’s one good deed going to do?”

“It might just keep her from taking Hope and leaving. As far as she knows, you were 100% on board with Dahlia’s plans. This changes things.” Bonnie then turned to Caroline and Elijah, who had gathered in the doorway, “I got what I needed. I can hopefully undo the spell during next week’s full moon. If I can get a Heretic here by then.”

Caroline got thinking, about which Heretic was the best to approach about this. “Mary Louise is a bitch, who’ll probably hang up on you. Valerie would bring…someone else, which means that someone is going to know where we are. That leaves Nora, who already knows we’re here, and actually likes you. “

“I’m sorry, but why do you need a Heretic? You seem powerful enough to revoke the curse on your own.”

“I haven’t really dealt with this kind of magic before. If I can’t undo it my way, Nora might be able to siphon the magic out of the curse. It’s at least worth a try.”

“Plus, Nora’s already on her way here.” Caroline interjected. “I came in to tell you that she tracked down some mountain ash and was coming to deliver it.”

“Thank you so much Miss Bennett. If you’ll excuse me, I’m heading to the Bayou to let the wolves know.” Elijah said as he went toward the door.

“Tell them to go to the clearing we saw them in. if they’re all in one place when I undo it, it’ll save time.” Elijah nodded and walked out. “By the way, all of you are coming with me.”

“Why? I mean, I don’t know how I’d be helpful” came Lexi’s response.

“Just trust me on this. One way or another, all of you will be there.”


	10. Chapter 10

Two days before the full moon and Bonnie was in panic big enough to rival Caroline’s human days. Nora hadn’t been in touch since she called Caroline and she had one of the more vital ingredients to undoing the curse. The witch resorted to pacing the courtyard of the Abattoir, annoying both Katherine and Lexi, and calling the brunette Heretic every half hour until she got an answer.

“Hey, Nora. It’s Bonnie. I’d really appreciate it if you could answer my calls. I’m a little low on time here. Call me when you get this.” She hung up and growled in frustration.

 “Honestly, Bonnie. I got lost, not kidnapped. Calm down.” A posh voice from the entrance said. “By the way, nice cloaking spell. It took me three days to actually find this place.”

“Nora! Oh thank god. I thought I was going to have a pack of disgruntled werewolves on my hands for a moment there.” Bonnie ran over to hug the brunette.

“Yes, well, finding that much mountain ash on a short notice is a bit tricky. You’re lucky I was able to find it on this continent.”

“The important thing is, she’s here.” Caroline said, happy that Bonnie wasn’t as anxious anymore. “It’s nice to see you, Nora.”

“Likewise. How are the girls?” Nora asked a little awkwardly. It was a little weird talking to a girl you once tortured for a week.

As Caroline went to answer, the Mikaelsons came into the building.

“Is this Nora the Heretic the witch seemed so anxious about?”

“I mentioned the fact that she was a Heretic once, and my anxiety was well founded ok?” Bonnie said defensively. Nora decided to intervene before a fight could ensue.

“Yes, I’m Nora. And you are?”

“My name is Klaus. This is my brother Elijah and my sisters Freya. My other sister is not herself at the moment.” Klaus was annoyed that the witch didn’t react to his name the way most supernatural beings did. She acted as if she’d never heard of him at all.

“Let me guess. Hybrid, vampire, witch” the brunette said, pointing to each sibling in turn. “You want to tell me why I’m needed?”

“A werewolf pack in the Bayou has been cursed into being wolves all month except during the full moon. I said I’d undo the spell.”

“So I’m here in case you need me to siphon the curse off them.”

“Actually, no.” Caroline injected. The rest of the group, sans Bonnie turned to look at the blonde. “Bonnie can use Qetsiyah’s magic and her own; your magic is pretty much unlimited because you’re a Heretic. Two impossibly powerful witches are better than one.”

The Originals, and Lexi all looked perplexed by Caroline’s statement, and finally Lexi asked, “All right, what exactly is a Heretic and why does that make her magic unlimited?”

“Yes, you told us the Heretics were siphoners. How can a witch with no magic of their own have unlimited magic?” Freya asked, confused. Caroline, Bonnie and Nora shared each other looks, trying to decide how best to answer the question. Finally, Katherine spoke up, trying to keep the conversation on track.

“Is that really what we’re gonna focus on right now? We have two days before the full moon and your baby mama to de-cursify.” The Originals sensed there was a piece of Nora’s story missing but decided to curb their curiosity for the moment.

“Is that why you’re doing this?” Nora asked Bonnie, “Because if you help him, he’ll help you resur-“

“No. I’m doing it so Hope can have her mother back.” Bonnie interrupted before Nora could spill the beans. “Besides, he’s not exactly pining for her right now.” Her eyes moved from the hybrid to Caroline, and Nora nodded.

“All right, I guess it’s not the worst full moon I’ve lived through.”

Bonnie and Nora left to discuss the mechanics of the spell they were going to perform and catch up. Meanwhile, Caroline and Klaus began to argue about what she seemed to be hiding.


	11. Chapter 11

Two days later, the group was trudging through the Bayou. Things were still a little tense between the girls and the Mikaelsons. Freya found Nora’s abilities interesting and warmed up to her easily. They had spent the last few days discussing siphoning and how the twins’ talents would develop. As they reached the clearing to meet the wolves, Freya felt the need to ask a random question about Bonnie’s spell. “Just one question, why mountain ash?”

“It creates a barrier and it’s harder to find than salt. In order to de-curse just this pack, I need to isolate them from anyone else with wolf heritage, like Klaus, and make it harder to undo.”

The eldest Mikaelson seemed pleased with that answer and began helping Bonnie set up. The vampires followed behind shortly, carrying the children and a few other necessities. As the sun began to set, the clearing filled with wolves, each looking hatefully at the Originals.

Lexi sensed the tension and whispered to Caroline “if I get bitten, you better get me that damn cure from Klaus. I’d rather not die a third time.”

As Caroline went to respond, the sound of bones breaking began to echo through the Bayou. The first wolf to be human was Hayley, who lunged directly at Klaus.

“You bastard! How dare you? You took Hope from me. You cursed all of us! Every wolf I fought for, everyone who stood up for our daughter. You-“

“He didn’t have a choice.” Freya solemnly stated.

“What? Of course he did! He let Dahlia curse us to take Hope.”

“No, he let Dahlia think he sided with her and acted accordingly. It bought us and Hope enough time to kill Dahlia. I told him it was the only way. You want to hate someone, hate me.”

“I’m sorry, but how does cursing all of us buy time?” Jackson asked, more confused than ever.

“Dahlia needed to harness the full moon at its apex to bind Hope to her. She also couldn’t perform two spells, in two different locations, at the same time. He made sure Dahlia was too busy cursing you to bind Hope. The one thing all of you could agree on is that you’d do anything to keep Hope safe. I’ll admit it was a shitty, unfair plan, but it was the only one we had.”

Hayley and Jackson were dumbstruck by Freya’s revelation. They expected someone to justify Klaus’s actions, whether it was Elijah touting his ‘always and forever’ garbage or Klaus himself pulling the ‘what should I regret’ card. They hadn’t anticipated this.

“I can show you the memory of it later. Speaking of the littlest wolf, I think someone wants to see you.” Klaus said, trying to placate the wolves temporarily.

Hayley then noticed the others who came with Klaus. Elijah stood, holding Hope between Katherine and Caroline; Hayley wondered why exactly those two were here. He stepped forward and handed her to her mother.

“Hi, baby. I missed you so much. Did you miss me?” Hope giggled at her mother, and then, a baby started crying. The pack turned in confusion and watched Caroline pick up a baby from a baby carrier.

“Come on Lizzie, don’t spoil the nice reunion. I know, I’m keeping you up too late, aren’t I? I’m sorry, I’m still getting used to this mommy thing. Please don’t wake your sister up….”

“You’re a vampire.” The brunette hybrid said. “How do you have kids?”

“It’s a long story. But I have twin girls and they’re kind of friends with Hope.” The blonde said, a little tensely. She still hadn’t decided how she felt about Hayley.

“Look, if you’re here because of the whole Shane, hybrid massacre thing-“

“I’m not. A lot worse and weirder stuff has happened in my life since then. You sleeping with my boyfriend and snapping my neck is pretty low on my ‘things I need vengeance for’ list. I’ve also decided to, how did you phrase it, not do teen drama.” Caroline stated.   “Isn’t there a curse we’re supposed to be undoing?”

“Well, the physical violence and shocking revelations gave Bonnie and I enough time to finish setting up. I’m Nora, by the way.”

“Ok, so what do you need?” asked Jackson, eager to feel useful. He also didn’t want to think about his wife sleeping with the blonde’s boyfriend.

“First, I need you to answer a few questions,” said the other witch, the one who came to the Bayou with Elijah a few weeks ago. “How did Dahlia curse your whole pack at once?”

“When I married Hayley, we completed a Unification ritual that linked the pack to Hayley. She put the curse on Hayley, which in turn cursed the rest of us.”

“Ok. Next question, have any of you ever been siphoned?” asked the British witch.

“I don’t even know what that is.” The alpha answered honestly, and a little apprehensively.

“Hopefully, plans A, B or C work and you never have to find out.” She then turned to Bonnie and said, “Ready?”

“All we need is the moon at its apex. Which is in about an hour. No one kill anyone until then.”

Most of the wolves dressed and went to see their families who’d come for the full moon. Hayley walked over to Caroline, who was rocking her fussy daughter, and stood awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Jackson followed. A blonde vampire neither wolf recognized broke the silence.

“So, welcome to the club.” She said sarcastically.

“What club? Also who are you?”

“I’m Lexi. I just got back from being dead, dead.” She said nonchalantly. “Welcome to the club of women who died and got dragged into this supernatural mess. We meet every Tuesday.” Hayley looked at the woman like she was crazy and Caroline elbowed her in the ribs. “What? I was trying to diffuse the tension. I’m gonna go find Freya.” Lexi walked off, leaving the ex-enemies standing there. Jackson tried to offer an olive branch to the blonde.

He introduced himself and asked “Were you the one taking care of Hope all this time?”

“For the last three weeks, I helped some. She’s a great kid”

“Thank you.” Hayley finally spoke, “I know you hate me but I appreciate that she had you.”

“Can we kind of let bygones be bygones? I’m over it, I’m pretty sure you are too, and with our children being friends, we need to figure out a way to get along.” Hayley nodded, holding Hope closer.

“How did that happen anyway?” Jackson asked.

“The long story would take all night. The short version is a dying witch’s babies were magically placed into my body so the bloodline wouldn’t die out. Their father is dead, so I’m the only parent they have.”

“You weren’t lying about weirder stuff happening to you.”

“Magical vampire pregnancy is unfortunately the tip of the iceberg.” Just then, Josie began to cry. Caroline looked at Jackson and said, “Do you mind holding her? She’s mostly asleep and I don’t want Josie to wake her up.”

The werewolf nodded and she handed him Lizzie and started to rock Josie. He looked down at the sleeping baby. The baby looked up at him and gurgled. A tiny hand reached up to grab his nose and all of a sudden he felt a pain that stopped after a few seconds.

“Ow. What was that?”

“I’m so sorry. Both my girls do that when they meet someone for the first time. They’re too young to control it.”

“But what did she do?” Hayley asked, concerned for her small family.

“My girls can absorb magic from other supernatural sources. I don’t know very much about it yet, but Nora said when she was young it was her way of making sure adult witches from other covens weren’t trying to hurt her.” She turned and looked at Jackson “Lizzie basically just felt the magic in your blood, due to you being a werewolf, and decided you aren’t a threat.” Turning to Hayley, she added, “Before you ask, they only do it to adults, so Hope is safe.”

“Is this that siphoning thing that witch was talking about?” Jackson asked, putting the pieces together as she spoke.

“Kind of.”

“Well then why’d she make it sound like a bad thing?”

“Nora made it sound bad because it can be very painful. Siphoners can essentially strip all of the magic out of anything supernatural, like an enchanted object or a vampire. As you can imagine, doing that hurts.”

“Why is plan D a siphoner then?”

“Nora could siphon the magic out of the curse itself, rendering it null. Its plan D because Bonnie, Nora and Freya agreed that they’d only inflict pain on any of you as a last resort.”

Bonnie then stood on one of the stumps and whistled. Once everyone turned to look at her, she spoke. “Ok, the moon will reach its zenith in under ten minutes. I need everyone effected by the curse to come over here and gather in this circle.” She gestured to the almost complete circle of mountain ash on the ground.

The wolves did as ordered, a little confused as to why the circle was needed. One of the older wolves voiced his curiosity. Bonnie gave him a vague answer of ‘it just is’. She turned to the other witches and nodded for them to complete the circle.

“All right. I will warn you, this might be a little painful. Whatever you do, do not leave the circle. If you do, the ritual won’t work on you. Understand?”

The pack nodded and Bonnie began chanting in an unknown language.

“If Miss Bennett already speaks some many languages, why does she need our help translating a spell?” Elijah asked.

Caroline was about the respond when the wind began to pick up and flames from the torches started to rise. Bonnie started chanting louder and her eyes went completely empty. Both the winds and the fires died down. The pack felt a volt of energy and an intense pain right before Bonnie said, “it’s done.”

By the time the pack processed Bonnie’s words, her eyes had returned to normal. Caroline looked at her friend worriedly. She had never seen the witch's eyes look that empty before. The blonde prayed to whatever was out there that this was a one-time thing.

"How do we know it worked?" Asked one of the werewolves. "I mean, I feel different but not like I did last time."

"Only way to be sure is to wait." Jackson reasoned, “Thank you, Bonnie, even if it doesn't work."

"Oh, don't worry. It did." Came Bonnie’s sure reply.


	12. Chapter 12

When dawn came, the wolves rejoiced. The curse had been lifted and they were free. Hayley and Jackson agreed to come to the Abattoir to discuss Hope and the state of the city with Klaus. As the group walked into the building, they were met by a frantic Michelle.

"Is Bonnie here?"

The witch ran to the front of the group. "Yes, what's wrong?"

"The thing we talked about, it's gotten worse." the rest of the group went upstairs to pretend to give them privacy. Elijah quickly explained to Hayley and Jackson that the witches were having some issues with their magic. They sat in the library and listened.

"But you still have your magic?"

"Yes, but all of us are weaker, even the regent. What's happening?"

"It’s complete now.” Bonnie said, almost bored. “I take it you can see yourself out.” she turned to walk upstairs when Michelle got over her shock and spoke

“No. Tell me what’s going on?!”

“I’ve already told you everything I’m going to. Now get out.” Bonnie’s voice was incredibly cold. The younger witch went to argue when Bonnie flicked her wrist and Michelle was expelled from the building. “I hate it when they don’t listen.” Bonnie then headed upstairs.

While the Bennett witch was downstairs, the others were discussing her conversation. “Is it just me or is Bon-Bon not acting like herself?” Katherine asked.

“I agree the witch seems off. And there was that thing her eyes did at the ritual.” Everyone turned to look at Caroline, silently asking for insight.

“She’s been through a lot, ok? Stuff like that changes you.” Caroline was worried for her best friend as well, but wanted to talk to her first before jumping to any conclusions. The group returned to silence and as Bonnie entered the room, Caroline shot her a ‘we need to talk’ look, which Bonnie returned.

Over the next several hours, they argued. Hayley and Jackson agreed to move in across the street from the Abattoir so they could have some privacy, but Klaus was close enough to Hope to not get paranoid. They also decided to keep Caroline, Katherine and Bonnie’s identities a secret from most people little longer. Being unknown was an advantage in this town. When the werewolf and hybrid left to deal with some logistics of moving, Caroline grabbed Bonnie’s arm and dragged her into a different room. Before Caroline could speak, Bonnie put a finger to her lips and pulled some sage out of her pocket. Lighting it, she gave the blonde an ‘okay, talk’ look.

“It happened again, didn’t it? At the ritual, and just now.”

“Yeah. But not as bad as before.”

“Have you figured out how to control it?”

“I think it’s more of a get-used-to-it type thing.”

“So you’re just supposed to get used to your billion-times great-grandma talking to you?”

“She’s not just talking to me.”

 

**BONNIE’S POV:**

**THE PREVIOUS NIGHT:**

“All right. I will warn you, this might be a little painful. Whatever you do, do not leave the circle. If you do, the ritual won’t work on you. Understand?”

The pack nodded and Bonnie began chanting in an unknown language.

“If Miss Bennett already speaks some many languages, why does she need our help translating a spell?” Elijah asked.

Caroline was about the respond when the wind began to pick up and flames from the candles started to rise.

**_“Uh oh, someone’s not happy.” Bonnie saw Qetsiyah in her periphery. “This is Nature trying to fight you. If you actually want the spell to work, I’d recommend chanting louder.”_ **

Bonnie started chanting louder and her eyes went completely empty. Both the winds and the fires died down. The pack felt a volt of energy and an intense pain right before Bonnie said, “it’s done.”

**_“Nice job, junior.”_ **

****

**A FEW HOURS LATER:**

"But you still have your magic?"

"Yes, but all of us are weaker, even the regent. What's happening?"

"It’s complete now.”

**_“Good”, said Qetsiyah from the doorway. “That’s what they deserve for cheating the system.”_ **

“I take it you can see yourself out.” Bonnie turned to walk upstairs when Michelle got over her shock and spoke.

“No. Tell me what’s going on?!”

**_“And you wonder why I was so happy when Nature decided to punish them. Can’t you see they deserve it? Maybe its time for a sane, rational, well-adjusted witch to talk with her.”_ **

Bonnie decided to give in to Qetsyah’s anger. “I’ve already told you everything I’m going to. Now get out.” Her voice was incredibly cold. The younger witch went to argue when Bonnie flicked her wrist and Michelle was expelled from the building.

**_“Man, that almost felt better than telling Silas I killed Amara. You have to admit, you wanted to do that. And you enjoyed battling Nature earlier.”_ **

“I hate it when they don’t listen.” Bonnie then headed upstairs. She was worried that Qetsiyah was trying to take over her mind. If this happened again, she didn’t know what the outcome would be.

**_“Please, I’m not the worst Bennett you could be seeing right now. I’m not trying to take over; I’m trying to guide you. Besides, its not like I’m the only one here.”_ **

* * *

 

A few days later, Klaus and Elijah were meeting with Marcel to discuss business. The younger vampire was still curious about the two new arrivals for weeks ago, Katherine and Caroline. Part of him hoped they’d seen the sights and left, but a bigger part of him sensed they were still there, and up to something. Camille had also told him that she saw two blondes and a brunette at Klaus’s house the day before he first saw them. Years of dealing with Klaus made Marcel wary of coincidences. He decided to ask both directly that day.

After some brief chitchat, Marcel decided to go digging for information.

“So, how exactly do you know those two new vampires I told you about?”

Elijah decided to test Marcel first, to see what he knew. “Why do you think we would know them? We have met a fair few people.”

“Someone told me they saw a few new faces in your house the day before I ran into those two at the bar. Its not hard to put two and two together.”

“I guess the cat is out of the bag, then. My brother has been hopelessly in love with Katerina Petrova, or Katherine Pierce as she goes by now, for five centuries. Of course, my trying to kill her put a bit of a strain on that relationship. Caroline is a friend.”

Marcel paused at that, the pair were no longer possible allies in his quest for the Quarter.

“Now, shall we return to business?” Elijah inquired. “This is not my only obligation today.”

 

Caroline and Katherine continued to explore the Quarter. Returning to Rousseau’s, they were surprised to see that Josh was not there, but Camille was. They awkwardly exchanged greetings.

“How do you two know Klaus?” the bartender asked, trying not to sound too eager or nosy.

Katherine downed her drink; “He spent five hundred years hunting me and almost killed her twice.”

“Three times, actually. You were off in Nova Scotia for the last one.”

The bartender backed up in shock. “Then why come directly to him?”

“Remind me again why that’s your business.”

“Its not” she said defensively, “I’m just curious.”

The brunette stood up and paid. The blonde followed suit. As Katherine walked out the door, she threw over her shoulder, “You should really work on that. Let’s find that store Rebekah was talking about. “

 

Rebekah was getting used to being back in her body. Shortly after Hayley was turned human again, Rebekah woke up in her own body. So far, no witch had been able to put her mind back into Eva’s body. Her own body was stronger, but wasn’t able to perform magic, magic she needed to save Kol. She’d spent the last few days moping around the Abattoir and getting caught up on what she’d missed. On a better note, she was getting along a lot better with Lexi than she ever would’ve thought possible.

 

Michelle stormed into the Lycee, and headed straight for Davina. Luckily, she was alone.

“We have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“The witch the Mikaelsons made me talk to, I spoke to her again. I told her the issue was getting worse.”

“Ok and?”

“She said it was complete.”

“What is complete?”

“I don’t know. All she said was ‘its complete now’. Then she magically threw me out of the building.”

“But did she seem to know what it is?”

“Yeah, she knew exactly what it was and declined to share.”

“Maybe its time for a different approach.”

 

Matt decided that enough was enough. Caroline had been gone a month, with only two phone calls letting him know she was okay. The Salvatores and Enzo seemed content to ignore the fact that two of their friends were missing, but he wasn’t. After two weeks of radio silence, he decided the ends would justify the means. He convinced another sheriff to let him trace her cell phone.

He was shocked and a little concerned when the trace came back and showed she was in New Orleans. He put in for some vacation days and left town almost immediately. He decided not to tell the others that he’d found Caroline or where she was, since none of them seemed to care.

After arriving to the city, he drove around for a few hours, trying to figure out where she would have gone. He knew better than to just ask around about the Original family or any strange behavior. Around three in the afternoon, he turned off of Bourbon Street and saw a blonde head that looked familiar. He watched her enter a large building and quickly parked his truck nearby.

He ran into the building and saw no one. He shouted out, “Caroline! I know you’re here.” Matt felt a whoosh of air behind him and turned around. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “Lexi?”

“You shouldn’t be here, Matt”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much a filler chapter. The next one is a lot more exciting

“You shouldn’t be here, Matt”

“Lexi? How…. how are you here? Damon killed you.”

Suddenly, Rebekah and Freya ran into the room. “What’s going on? Matt…. what are you doing here? Are you here to see me?”

“No. I was looking for Caroline. But, Stefan’s dead best friend here?!”

Caroline heard Matt shout the last part and ran in.

“Its really complicated and I don’t understand most of it. All I know is something brought Lexi back to life, as a vampire, about a month ago. Katherine, incidentally, is also alive as well.”

“Ah, I see the quarterback has arrived.”

“Not now, Klaus. Care, why didn’t you tell anyone Lexi was alive?”

“I asked her not to tell anyone yet.” Matt turned to look at the older woman. “I needed a break before telling Stefan I’m alive.”

Matt nodded, about to say something, before Katherine interjected. “If Matty blue-blue isn’t here for Rebekah, why’s he here?”

“I…I may have traced Caroline’s phone to New Orleans, and come down here to make sure she was okay. “ by this points, the remaining Originals, Bonnie and Hayley had arrived as well.

“Seriously?”

“You disappeared in the middle of the night, took all your stuff with you and I’ve heard from you twice in the last month. I was worried!”

“You left Mystic Falls in the middle of the night?” Freya asked. The witch had assumed they told their friends and family that they were headed to New Orleans.

“Yeah, they also didn’t tell anyone where they were going.”

“I’m sorry ok! Bonnie needed a break from Damon’s obsession with undoing Kai’s spell, Katherine was mysteriously back, I couldn’t stay there with Rayna breathing down our necks, so I left” the blonde ranted. “Look, you cannot tell anyone, especially the Salvatores, that Lexi or Katherine are alive or that we’re here.”

“As much as it sucks, she’s right.” Bonnie said, “They’re both too wrapped up in Elena’s situation to see anything else. I’m doing everything I can for her, but I also deserve to live my life. She’s got nothing but time.” The Originals looked curious, no one from Mystic Falls had mentioned the doppelganger since arriving and each realized how odd that was. Whatever situation she was in sounded serious, and like it was taking a toll on the young Bennett witch.

Matt nodded; Elena and her vampire drama had messed up Bonnie’s life for years. If anyone other than him deserved a break, it was Bonnie. “Your secret is safe. Now I have no idea what to do though.” The others turned to look at him. “As soon as I saw Caroline was here, I thought she’d been kidnapped by Klaus or something. I kinda rushed down here without a plan.”

“Stay for a few days, spend some time with us. Reconnect with everyone. Its up to you.”

“Who knows? You might decide to stay awhile.”

Matt tried not to look too excited about seeing everyone again. After Elijah offered him a room, he went upstairs, with Lexi coming after him wanting answers. He texted Enzo telling him he’d found Caroline and that she was okay, but not where she was. Matt struggled to find something to say. “Welcome back, I guess.”

“Its nice to be back. Being seen is something everyone takes for granted.”

“Can I ask you a question? Where did everyone go? When I was on the Other Side the last time, Vicki got sucked into a vortex. What happened?”

Lexi sighed, she heard Matt’s cries as the vortex took his sister away and it haunted her for weeks. “She moved on. She went to whatever Afterlife she was meant for. I’d like to think she found peace.”

“And…. how are you doing with the whole resurrection-thing?” Matt hoped he was sounding supportive.

“I’m ok, I guess. Caroline and Katherine have been helping me adjust. Plus, Bonnie was nice enough to make me a daylight ring a few days ago."

“That’s good.”

Lexi shrugged. “Now, onto you. What’s happening with you? You’re the only person who’s stayed human through everything. Why did Rebekah think you’d be here for her?”

“Things have been weird. Sometimes I wish we could go back to before the Salvatores arrived. Rebekah and I are friends, kinda. I like her, she likes me, but I want to stay human, which complicates things.”

“Not if you don’t let it.” He looked at her baffled. “Don’t think of it as a forever thing. Being with her doesn’t mean you have to decide to turn right now. Just be with her. You might change your mind or the relationship might end. Either way, you should go for it.”

“When did you get to be so Zen?”

“I had a lot of time to watch other people’s dating lives on the Other Side. Kind of made me an expert.” She joked, before turning serious, “What happened to Elena?”

“Kai wanted a last act of revenge on Bonnie. When he attacked the wedding, he put Elena in a coma. He also linked her life to Bonnie’s. As long as Bonnie is alive, Elena remains comatose. If Bonnie tries and fails to undo the linking spell, both of them die. Damon’s spent the last nine months breathing down her neck to somehow fix it.”

“No wonder she’s so stressed. I’d magically throw his ass across a room too.”

 

* * *

 

“I hope that drama didn’t disrupt play time,” Caroline said, as she and Hayley walked into Hope’s playroom upstairs. All three girls were sitting on the carpet, playing.

“I don’t even think they noticed.” Jackson replied, “It seems plastic keys and blocks are much more entertaining than grown-ups being loud. Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, one of Caroline’s friends from Mystic Falls came down to check on her and discovered someone he knew was back from the dead.” Hayley responded, “You’ll probably see him around somewhere.”

“Are you really comfortable letting an unknown vampire be around your girls or Hope?” Jackson inquired, trying to gauge how much both women trusted Matt.

“Matt’s human, and I’ve known him since I was four. He’s a good guy; they’ll be safe. He also already knows about the supernatural.”

The werewolf nodded, less concerned for his stepdaughter’s safety. He was also looking forward to having another guy other than Elijah or Klaus to talk to. He loved Hayley and Hope, but missed being able to have guy time. The trio watched the girls play for a little while, each lost in their own worlds. There was a knock on the door, and a young blonde man’s came in.

“Hey, Care, Katherine said you might be up here. I was in shock and forgot to ask earlier, how are the twins?”

“They’re doing good. Come over here and see.” The blonde gestured for him to come into the room. He took a seat near Lizzie and Caroline realized she needed to do introductions. “Oh, I don’t know if you remember Hayley from a few years ago. This is her husband Jackson.”

“Hey man. I’m Matt. “ He looked down at Lizzie, “Wow, she’s gotten so big. I can’t believe it’s been six months.”

“Yeah, I just…wish their dad could see them grow up.”

“You can’t change what happened, Care.” He then looked between Hope, Jackson and Hayley. He eventually got the courage to ask, “Is this your daughter?”

“She’s Klaus’s and mine. Her name is Hope.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why you should never get into a magic fight with a Bennett witch

It was late morning the next day when the trouble started. Davina, Michelle and elders from the nine covens and a few other witches stormed into the Abattoir. Marcel had come as well, out of concern for Davina and curiosity. The Regent had confessed to him that the magic of the witches had changed, and the Mikaelsons knew why. Klaus and Elijah went out to meet them. “What an unexpected surprise. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Cut the crap, Klaus. Where’s the witch?”

“What witch?”

“The witch you brought Michelle here to talk to. I want answers.”

“My name is Bonnie actually.“ The Bennett witch said, walking calmly down the stairs. When she reached the courtyard, she was met with a group of angry stares. She examined the teenage witch standing in front of the rest of the crowd, who seemed to be in charge.

“What happened to us?”

“You’ve been undergoing a transformation of sorts. Now it’s complete.”

Davina began to get angry at Bonnie’s non-answers. “I’m the Regent of the Nine Covens, tell me what you know!”

Bonnie snorted, “I’m not a New Orleans witch. You don’t have any authority over me. And, with what’s been done, you don’t have as much authority over New Orleans witches anymore either.”

One of the older witches spoke up. “Look, Bonnie? I’m Vincent; we just want to know what’s going on. What exactly was done?”

Bonnie exhaled, annoyed. “You angered Nature so Nature changed your link to the Ancestors. “ when she was met with blank looks, she continued, “I have to spell it out don’t I? When you channel your Ancestors, you open a door. Now Nature made sure the door doesn’t open as wide. The Regent is less affected. You can still practice other magic though. “

“Why did this happen?” asked a middle aged Asian witch next to Vincent. “What angered Nature?”

“Let’s see: You kept sacrificing children which Nature tends to disagree with. You consecrated a non-New Orleans witch, who then took over the Ancestors. Someone then resurrected that witch, and Nature intervened when she died again. A number of you were willing to sacrifice a baby because they told you to. Plus, I think a few witches like me from the Afterlife might have wanted to punish you.”

“How long have you known?” Michelle inquired. “You said ‘now its complete’. That means you knew what was happening when it wasn’t complete. How long did you know?”

“Since before you met me the first time. I didn’t tell you because it wasn’t time for you to know.”

“And now it is?”

“There’s nothing any of you can do about it now.”

“But there’s probably something you could” Vincent concluded.

“We’re gonna have to insist that you fix it.” Said the Asian witch from earlier.

“That’s not gonna happen.” Bonnie stated. Davina got fed up with Bonnie’s attitude and reluctance to help.

“I didn’t want to have to resort to threats, but there’s one of you and twelve of us.”

Nora had come to the balcony a few minutes earlier. She snorted and said, “See how that works out for you. It should be entertaining at least.”

The twelve witches began chanting, deciding to take out Bonnie’s vampire protection first. Both Originals and Marcel dropped to their knees with aneurisms. They then focused on Bonnie, trying to inflict pain on her. When she didn’t seem effected at all, they began chanting louder. Freya began to convulse. Soon after, the twins and Hope began to cry in the playroom. Nora began muttering under her breath to seal the nursery from the pain spell. Nora, Bonnie and Caroline, who’d come out when she heard shouting, were the only three not feeling any pain.

Bonnie calmly raised one hand and half the witches fell to the ground unconscious. “Can I give you some free advice? Never piss off a Bennett witch.” She then began performing her own pain infliction on the remaining six witches. The vampires affected by the witches instantly felt relief.

**_“This is why Nature needed to punish them. They’ve become too confident, it’s insulting. Plus, their families escaped the purgatory of the Other Side. I’d call this even.” Qetsiyah stood next to Bonnie, looking pleased at the witches in pain._ **

“I might believe you, Tessa, if you weren’t completely psychotic.”

**_Another person entered Bonnie’s line of sight. “Bonnie. You need to stop.”_ **

“Grams? I thought you’d found peace.” The Originals looked questioningly at her, wondering who or what she was seeing.

**_“I did. But right now you need me here. Bonnie, just stop.”_ **

**_“Why should she stop? It’s not like its possible for her to die.”_ **

“What exactly does that mean?”

**_“Bonnie, honey, I know how easy it is to give into that anger. I know you’re worried about Elena, that you miss Kol and want him back. I know you’re tired.“_ **

**_“Too bad the spirits didn’t respect that. Maybe she should let off some steam.”_ **

**_“I know you’re sick of everyone demanding things from you.”_ **

“I’m so sick of everyone thinking they can just boss me around and make decisions for me.”

**_“I know honey. But look at them, look at her” Grams pointed to Davina, “They’re scared. That’s all. Like you were when we opened that tomb. They don’t know what to do so they’re lashing out. Be better than that. ”_ **

Bonnie lowered her arm and released the witches. They coughed for a few seconds before looking suspiciously at her. “You’re all acting like this is some spell I’m choosing not to reverse. It’s not a spell; it’s the rules of Nature. You’re stuck like this. I’m sorry.”

The witches got up from the ground, disappointed. All of them except Davina and Vincent left the compound, struggling to understand what they’d been told and how they’d tell the others. The two remaining witches hung back, wanting to talk to Bonnie. Caroline came downstairs at a human speed and hugged her friend.

“Thank god you’re ok. You are ok right?”

“I’m fine, I think.”

“Fine? Love, you were either talking to yourself just now or someone only you could see. What exactly is going on with you?”

“I’m curious about that too,” Elijah said. “Who are Tessa and Grams?”

“I can occasionally see dead relatives of mine. It started when after the Other Side collapsed. I think it’s a side effect of what I was when the Other Side collapsed.” Bonnie sighed, suddenly exhausted. “Grams is my grandmother, who died before your brother came to Mystic Falls. Tessa is the name Qetsiyah went by when she returned to life during the whole Silas thing.”

“Wait, not only does Qetsiyah talk to you but you can see her? Bon, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I only see her sometimes. Mostly she stands around making bitchy comments.”

Vincent walked over, suddenly intrigued. “Wait, so not only are you a Bennett witch, but you can interact with the dead? Without the Other Side?”

“Yes, its how I knew what Nature did. A dead witch in Baton Rouge told me.”

The man nodded, lost in thought. Bonnie Bennett just became much more interesting than he’d first assumed. “I hope you realize, a lot of witches are going to seek you out for help in the coming months.”

“Great. You’re welcome to find me, the others not so much. Talking to the dead is a little exhausting, so I’m gonna go take a nap.” Bonnie rushed out, looking for an excuse to leave.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Davina asked. Bonnie looked at her in confusion. “A month ago, I felt a powerful spell be performed but couldn’t sense who or where. That was you.”

“Yes. I was doing a favor for a friend.”

“Impressive. I’m Davina, by the way.”

“Bonnie, but you know that already. “

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier, we just...have no idea what to do and everyone is looking to me for answers and I..."

"I figured that out, it’s why I stopped. Maybe try a rational discussion next time." Bonnie then looked at Davina and saw a lost witch, just like she used to be. She decided to make a peace offering. “Here’s my number. If you ever want to learn some Traditional magic, come find me.”

The younger witch smiled apprehensively and left.

* * *

 

"Care! Klaus! Anybody!"

"Oh my god, Matt" the blonde said, and everyone ran upstairs. They found Matt, Hayley and the kids in the playroom. The hybrid was pounding against an invisible barrier in the doorway.

"You wanna explain why I'm trapped in here? "

"Sorry" Nora said awkwardly, "when the witches' chanting started hurting them, they started crying. I tried to seal off the room. It must have also sealed you guys in."

"Nora, why are you here?"

"You're not the only friend Caroline and Bonnie have."

"Catch up later. Can you get us out please?"

Nora stepped forward and put her hand on the barrier. "It's a little stronger than I'm used to. Someone else must have cast a protection spell too. It's gonna take me a little longer."

"So get Bonnie or Freya."

"Bonnie is asleep and Freya is recovering from the seizure the witches caused. Plus, they're not siphoners, it won't help. " Nora stated. "I either siphon the magic out, or someone has to perform a counter spell. Doing both would cancel each other out."

She went back to drawing magic out of the barrier.

Lizzie and Josie crawled over to the doorway, happy to see their mommy. They tried to get closer to her, when they ran into the barrier. Josie began to cry, reaching out for her mother. A second later Nora, who was pushing against the boundary, fell through the doorway.

"Well, boundary's down. I also think your daughter might have just siphoned off some of its magic."

"How would an infant know to do that?" Matt asked.

"She didn't. She wanted her mother and saw that something magical was keeping her away. Her magic just kind of reacted." Nora turned to look at Caroline, who was trying to calm both girls down. "You said they've been siphoning when they meet someone for the first time."

The blonde nodded, "For a few seconds, yeah."

"Well, that's earlier than I ever did. Then again, they did demonstrate powers when they were in the womb, so I guess it's kinda normal"

* * *

Walking back downstairs with the kids, Caroline was surprised to see the vampire from the bar still there. Caroline put the twins down and turned to Marcel, studying him. "Hey, sorry about the incident in the bar last month. You should have said you were a friend of the Mikaelsons."

"I try not at advertise it. Are you saying sorry because you actually are, or because you're scared of Klaus?"

The man looked offended, "I'm not scared of Klaus."

"And I'm not a neurotic control freak. There are only about four people who aren't scared of him. You're not one of them."

“And you are? The way I see it, you’re either very brave or very stupid.” He took a pause. “How did you and your friend convince a witch to knock eleven of us out?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When I ‘ambushed’ you two outside Jardin Gris. Something knocked us out, how’d you get a witch to do it?”

“I have no idea what happened or why, but there wasn’t a witch involved.”

The man was about to reply when Klaus appeared. “Not harassing my friends again are you, Marcellus?”

“Just trying to clear the air.”

“And the best time to do this was right after your friend Davina came here looking for a fight?”

Katherine walked into the compound, looking annoyed. “Heard there was a witch-fight. Anything remotely important happen?” when she saw Marcel, she got angry. “Oh its you. Why are you here?”

“Other than the witch-fight waking up Hope and the twins, not particularly. He’s here because he somehow found out we’re friends with Klaus and Elijah.”

“Right, friends.” Katherine snorted. “You just don’t want them to be mad at you. Its kinda pathetic.”


	15. Chapter 15

_Previously:_

_He’s here because he somehow found out we’re friends with Klaus and Elijah.”_

_“Right, friends.” Katherine snorted. “You just don’t want them to be mad at you. Its kinda pathetic.”_

* * *

 

Klaus was happy to see Katerina goad someone other than him into attacking and wanted to see what Marcel would do. Before Marcel could respond, Caroline interrupted.

“As entertaining as this is about the get, don’t you have an ex-lover to punish for ignoring you? And I don’t know, new vampires to terrorize.”

Klaus seized his opportunity to get Caroline alone. “I’m pretty sure they do, love. And, if I’m not mistaken, you and I have a prior engagement.”

Caroline rolled her eyes and said, “Well then, what are we waiting for? P.s. this better be good.”

“Now when have I ever let you down?” Klaus led Caroline out of the compound and they got into his car. They drove about half an hour outside the city, and stopped outside an older looking mansion.

“You know I don’t eat people right?”

Getting out of the driver’s seat, he chuckled “Yes Caroline. Your insistence on not harming people is one of your best yet infuriating qualities. I just thought you might like to have dinner away from all the riff raff of the city.” He led her into the house and towards the dining room, where dinner had already been served.

“And the fact we’re having a romantic, candlelit dinner is just an added bonus?”

“I promised no grand gestures or promises. I didn’t promise not to pursue you.”

“Nice to see you found a loophole.”

“I only follow the rules I want to, love. You should know that by now.”

Caroline pursed her lips, she did know that already. But Klaus tended to listen to her more often than he did Rebekah or even Elijah.

* * *

 

Katherine walked into the library, unsurprised to see Elijah there. He looked up from his book as she entered. "I know I shouldn't be worried about you, but are you ok?"

"I'm fine Katerina. It’s not the first time a witch has used a pain spell on me. Doesn’t make it hurt less.”

“Good to know. I might be angry at you, but I don’t actually want you to get hurt.” She admitted.

“May I ask you something? I’ve told you that I didn’t know you were dying; I’ve apologized for not being there. Why are you still so angry?”

“Because I thought you were there.“ Katherine said, holding back tears. “I was reliving some of my worst moments. Nadia being taken away, finding my family dead. And then Damon was in my head, telling me how it was all my fault. He…he made me see things, people I’d hurt like Jenna and Elena’s father. He made me see you. And for a few seconds, because you were there, I…I thought it was going to be okay. Then Damon ended the hallucination and mocked me for wanting someone to say goodbye.”

He finally understood why she was so reluctant to share details of her last days. It wasn’t to be casual, it was to look strong. “Katerina, I…”

“I know, but it’s a little hard to just get over something like that.”

“I would have been there. I should have been there. I would have stayed with you until the very end. How do I make this up to you?”

“You give me time to let it go. To process it on my own. I don’t need you to fix this, I just need you to be there.”

The Original nodded, satisfied. He decided to go out on a limb to get Katerina’s mind off such morbid things. “Would asking you dinner be taken as trying to hard?” 

* * *

 

Bonnie returned to her room, and lay down on the bed. She was just starting to drift off when she heard a voice.

**_“Don’t tell me you’re too tired to talk, little witch.”_ **

“Kol? How are you here, I didn’t do a spell to contact you.”

**_“You don’t need to.”_ **

Bonnie gave him a blank look, too exhausted to ask the million questions on her mind.

**_“You don’t know, do you?”_ **

“Know what?”

**_“The Spirits chose you for something before the Other Side collapsed. You can talk to the dead. That’s why Qetsiyah and I keep popping up.”_ **

“Can we not talk about the Spirits or the Other Side right now? I’ve had a hell of a day and I need to vent.”

**_“By all means, I’ve got nothing better to do.”_ **

* * *

 “If I ask you a question, will you give me an honest answer?”

“I’ve never lied to you before, Caroline, why start now? What’s the question?”

A conversation Caroline and Katherine had they day after the latter showed up weighed heavy on the blonde’s mind. People’s behaviors may change, but personalities don’t. Did Klaus still believe what he told Elijah five hundred years ago? “Do you think loving me has made you weak? I mean I’m a baby vampire and all three times you’ve tried to kill me, directly or otherwise, have failed.”

“I don’t think it has. Yes, I believe love can make you weak but doesn’t cause weakness. I’ve thought about it and I’m fairly certain that you’re my exception in the same manner Katerina is Elijah’s.”

“So, you think I’m your soul mate or something?”

“All I know is the thought of losing you, even when I barely knew you, made a White Oak Stake look rather tempting.” Klaus looked down, trying to compose himself. “Now, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Why do you never believe that I care about you as much as I do?”

“Because I’m never the one. My dad chose his boyfriend and left. My mother chose her job. Matt chose Elena. Tyler chose revenge. Whenever some supernatural evil comes to town, everyone’s reaction is to protect Elena first. Who cares if I die or get tortured?”

Both sat in silence for a minute after Caroline’s confession. One, lost in her own memory, the other unsure of how to comfort her. They chatted for a few hours. Klaus wanted to know what she thought of New Orleans so far; Caroline was curious about when the immortal hybrid learned how to cook. After sundown, they left to drive back to the Quarter. The car ride was spent in comfortable silence. As they reached the compound, Klaus spoke. “I know chivalry says I should walk you to your door, but I think that gesture is pointless. So, did you enjoy our second date?”

“Was this a date? Wait, what was our first date?”

“I consider the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant our first date.”

“Oh really?” the blonde asked, stepping closer to the hybrid.

“Why not, we had a nice time and you did say it was a date. I think that counts.” Klaus stepped closer.

“Fine. For date number three, tell me it’s a date.” Caroline stood her ground.

“So there’s going to be a date number three?” Klaus took another step closer.

“How are you a billion years old and still this clueless?” Caroline said, exasperated. She looked at his lips for a second before pulling him into a kiss. When they broke apart, she added, “There was always going to be a date number three.”


	16. Chapter 16

Early the next morning, Caroline walked into the kitchen and saw Bonnie. "Hey, you ok after yesterday's incident?"

"I'm fine care. I talked to Kol last night and that helped."

The friends heard something hit the ground and break. They turned to see Rebekah standing in the doorway, with a broken coffee mug at her feet.

"You saw him? How?!"

"I don't know. He said the Spirits chose me for something and that's how come I can still see him and Grams."

“The witch body he died in was consecrated. His soul is supposed to be on the Ancestral Plane.”

“No, the soul of the witch you consecrated is there. Kol died as a vampire, vampires aren’t meant to be on the Ancestral Plane. Kol’s soul went where all other vampires go in death.”

“But you saw him, you spoke to him?”

“Yes, he showed up without me even asking like Grams and Qetsiyah do.”

“I’ll be right back.” Rebekah sped out of the room and came back a few seconds later with her siblings. “Repeat what you just said again.”

“Kol’s spirit isn’t on the Ancestral Plane. It's where the other supernatural souls went after the Other Side collapsed. I talked to him last night.”

“I thought you could only see other witches from your family?” Elijah inquired.

“Apparently not, since he showed up without me trying to contact him. He said he could do it because the Spirits chose me for something”

“If he could contact you, does that mean you can contact him? Without a spell?” Rebekah asked, eager to bring Kol back.

“I don’t know who’s contacting who. Qetsiyah and Grams have only showed up when I’m upset. Kol showed up when I needed someone to vent to. I’ve never gone looking for any of them.”

“Try. The more you understand about this, the less scary it’ll be.” Caroline suggested, knowing how much the whole ‘talking to dead people’ thing was freaking Bonnie out.

Bonnie closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on Kol. What he looked like, the last conversation they had. She opened her eyes and saw no one else there. “Guys, I don’t think it worked.”

**_“Actually I wanted a dramatic entrance. Hello little witch”_ **

“Kol? It worked.”

**_“Of course it worked. You control what happens, not me.”_ **

“Ask him to prove it’s him and not someone else.” Klaus said sounding paranoid that this was a trick by his mother or worse Mikael.

**_“I can hear you! Tell them I can hear them!”_** Bonnie repeated Kol’s demands. **_“Tell Elijah I remember the look on Helga’s face when I caught them.”_**

Bonnie repeated Kol’s statement and the Original blushed. “Its Kol. He’s the only one who ever knew about Helga.”

“And who is Helga?” Katherine, who had just entered the room, asked.

“You were not the first woman I’ve had carnal knowledge of.”

“And our younger brother saw you.” Freya said.

**_“I always was a rather curious child.”_ **

“And you can talk to anyone in the Afterlife?” Katherine asked, “How? Because you were the Anchor?”

**_“It’s a little more complicated than that. Spirit magic existed long before the Other Side. They chose you as their emissary. You can talk to any of us, once you know how. It’s also why they won’t let you die.”_ **

Bonnie repeated what Kol said word-for-word until the last sentence. “They won’t let me die?” Bonnie asked, devastated.

**_“You’re their connection to this world. Unless they find a worthy replacement, you’re stuck like this.”_ **

“But if I can’t die, Elena can’t wake up.” The Originals looked to Caroline for an explanation, who suddenly became fascinated by the table.

**_“You will find a way. Tell my siblings I said goodbye.”_ **

Kol’s spirit then left, leaving Bonnie and the Originals more confused and distraught than ever.

“Hey” Matt said walking into the room. Looking around, he saw that everyone was upset. “I…I’m probably adding insult to injury here, but I think its time for me to leave.”

“I was coming to tell you the same thing. Mary Louise called, said she wanted to talk. I figure if I’m not ready now, I’ll probably never be. If you need me, call. Otherwise, I’ll see you in a few years.” Nora turned and walked out of the house.

* * *

 

Matt put the last of his bags in his truck. He turned back to look at the group waiting outside to see him off. “I think that’s everything. I wish I could stay, but I only took a few days off. It was nice seeing most of you. “ He looked between the three Original vampires, fidgeting with his hands for a second. “I need a favor. Can one of you compel me?” everyone looked at him in surprise.

“Matt, why do you want to be compelled?” Bonnie asked.

“Sooner or later, Damon or Stefan’s gonna get impatient about Elena. Or someone’s going to come to town looking for one of you. I can’t give away information I’ve been compelled not to share with anyone. If one of them compels me, no other vampire could override it.”

“I have to agree with his argument.” Elijah stated. “I’ll do it, I suppose.”

“No, I will. If you get daggered, the compulsion will break. I’m a lot harder to incapacitate.” Klaus said. “Don’t worry, both my sister and Caroline will make sure I don’t take it too far. “ Matt took off his vervain bracelet, handed it to Bonnie and walked over to Klaus. The hybrid’s eyes widened and he spoke. “Matt, you will remember everything you witnessed here. You will not tell anyone where Caroline, Bonnie, Katherine, Lexi or the twins are. You will tell no one that Katherine or Lexi are alive. You will not reveal this information verbally, written or using some other method of communication. You will still have the ability to contact any person here, but if asked by someone else, you will give a false location. Do you understand?“

“I understand.” Matt robotically replied.

“Drive safe. Call when you get home.” Caroline and Rebekah said in tandem.

* * *

 

Davina stood in the City of the Dead, facing an angry crowd. By now, every witch in New Orleans knew what had happened.

“You caused this. You and your alliance with Marcel.”

“The Ancestors did this because of you!’

“This is your fault.”

Davina cleared her throat. “I did not cause this, it was the will of Nature. Nature decided what path to take and Nature made this happen. The actions of a select few, such as Genevieve and Bastiana, turned Nature against us. We still have our magic, our link to the Ancestors and we will endure.”

“You’re the Regent, how are you going to fix this?” asked Van Nguyen.

“I’m unsure at this time. I’ll commune with our Ancestors, and confer with practitioners of other kinds of magic.”

“You need to talk to that other witch, the one you went to see yesterday. She knows what caused it, she’ll know how to fix it.”

“According to her, it can’t be fixed.” Vincent interrupted, “the laws of Nature have changed, and I believe her.”

“So what? We’re just supposed to give up our magic, our way of life, our history.”

“No, we adapt. We study other kinds of magic. We stop being so reliant on the Ancestors.” Davina took a breath and decided she needed time to think. “You’re dismissed.”

“Find a way to fix this, or you wont be Regent much longer.” Kara Nguyen said before stalking away. Vincent stayed to have a word with Davina.

“You know, you should reach out to Bonnie.” Davina turned and looked at him. “These people, they can smell blood in the water. They’re all waiting for a chance to prove you shouldn’t be Regent. Bonnie is from one of the oldest and strongest witch bloodlines. She can’t undo the will of Nature, but she’d be a good person to teach you Traditional magic.”

“She offered to. I just…don’t know what kind of message it might send.”

“It’ll send the message that you’re following your own advice, and adapting. Besides, I’ll do it with you. She said I could seek her out too.”

“Fine. I’ll call her.”

* * *

 

“I think you should do a showcase for your art.” Caroline said without preamble, watching Klaus paint.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because its good. At least I think so. I also don’t think it should be limited to one painting in the Hermitage. Besides, don’t tell me you’re against hearing people praise your work. “

“You’re right, I’m not against praise.”

“Good, because your art show is tomorrow night.” Klaus looked at her astonished. “Happy ‘thanks for helping me bury twelve dead witches in the woods’ day. They don’t really make a card for that.”

“You’re amazing, love.”

* * *

 

Bonnie got off the phone with Stefan, informing him she’d hit a dead end. She also told him she got a lead on another way to wake Elena. She was about to delve into Qetsiyah’s memories to find the Resurrection spell when her phone rang again

“Hello?”

“Bonnie? It’s Davina. Is your offer to learn Traditional magic still on the table? If it is, I’d like to learn.”

“Yeah, its still good. “

“Ok, I’ll come to the Mikaelson compound. Is it all right if I bring Vincent too?”

“I told Vincent he could reach out to me, so yes its fine. You don’t need to come here though. I know from experience that learning something new is hard with Klaus hovering over you. Plus, you need to be somewhere you feel comfortable. Where would that be?“

“St. Anne’s Church” the girl replied immediately.

“I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

Bonnie walked into the church, and spotted Vincent and Davina sitting in a pew talking. Vincent looked calm while Davina looked anxious. "Hey"

"Hi, thanks for coming." Davina said shyly. Bonnie sensed she was holding herself back.

"So do you want to do questions before or after?"

"Questions? What questions?" the teen asked, surprised.

"This is all new to you right? I figured you'd be a little curious about some logistics. And I have some stuff I want to ask you."

"Let’s do that first. It might make this less awkward." Vincent suggested.

Davina nodded, and asked the first question that came to her. "How does Traditional magic work?"

"Instead of channeling spirits or Ancestors, you draw from the earth itself or things within nature such as a full moon. It's the oldest and purest kind of magic. It does have its drawbacks though."

"Like what?"

"There's a limit. You can only push nature so far before it pushes back. Sometimes it's a headache or a nosebleed. Others times it's worse. My grandmother died because she overexerted herself doing a spell. The more you study it, the stronger you get."

Both witches nodded. Bonnie then asked her own question. "What is a Regent of the Nine Covens? You said you were Regent but I don't really know what that means."

"I'm the leader of the ancestral witches of New Orleans. I can communicate with the ancestors and have access to a greater amount of their combined power."

"I see. Why do you want to learn Traditional magic?"

"I told the others we need to adapt to our situation. I need to lead by example and branch out."

"And you Vincent?"

"Same. Plus I can't really turn down learning from a Bennett. May I ask you something unrelated? How can you talk to the dead with no Other Side?"

The Regents turned to Bonnie shocked. "You can talk to the dead?"

"Yeah. Remember when I got really pissed at you guys and started talking to myself?” Davina and Vincent both nodded “I was actually talking to some dead relatives. How much do either of you know about the Other Side?"

"Not much, just that that's where any supernatural being other than ancestral witches went when they died. And that Qetsiyah created it." Vincent said, and Davina nodded in agreement.

"It's a bit more complicated than that. Qetsiyah created the Immortality Spell for her and her fiancé Silas. He stole it and took it with his lover Amara. Qetsiyah then created a cure for immortality, told Silas she killed Amara and trapped him in a tomb. She hoped he'd take it and die to be with Amara. It was a trap; along with the cure, she created a supernatural dimension to trap his soul so he'd never find peace and be stuck with Qetsiyah forever. As a side effect, all other supernatural beings were sent there in death. Silas spent 2000 years in the tomb until he was awoken and ended up taking the cure. He wanted to destroy the Other Side before he died so he couldn't be trapped there."

"How would he do that?"

"By destroying the Anchor to the Other Side. See, Qetsiyah needed something immoral and indestructible to keep the Other Side intact. That way it wouldn’t be destroyed when she died. So Silas took the cure and went to destroy the Anchor only to discover that Qetsiyah lied. Amara's fate was much worse than dying. Qetsiyah made Amara the Anchor."

"How is that worse than dying?"

"The Anchor existed in both planes at once. One foot here, one foot on the Other Side. In order to pass on, a dead witch, vampire or werewolf had to literally pass through Amara. She had to feel the death of every person to pass through her. "

"How do you know all this?"

"Between Silas waking and taking the cure, I died. I brought someone I loved back from the dead. Nature had to find a balance. So I was stuck on the Other Side. After Silas found Amara, she took the cure. When she died, the Other Side would have collapsed. A friend convinced Qetsiyah, who dragged herself back to this plane to personally deal with Silas, to make me the Anchor, which she did. I know firsthand how painful Amara's eternity was."

"If you're the Anchor, how is it gone?"

"I was the Anchor. In order to undo a curse on them, a coven of witches known as Travellers committed mass suicide to overwhelm me and destabilize the Other Side. When the Other Side collapsed, it took me with it. I was forced from this plane of existence. A loophole allowed me to return. Every dead supernatural moved on to whatever Afterlife they were meant for."

"So how can you talk to the dead?"

"I think it's a side effect of being the Anchor when it collapsed and returning to this plane."

The group spent the next few hours working in spells. Both had mastered a few of the easier spells Bonnie knew, such as fire starting and locating objects. They agreed to meet up in a week to learn more. As Vincent and Davina prepared to leave, one last question came to her.

"Why weren't those two girls affected by us?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we attacked you, the spell didn't hurt you. It took down the Originals, Marcel, Freya but not you. It also didn't hurt the brunette with the British accent and the blonde who ran down to check on you. Why didn't it affect them?"

"The brunette, Nora, wasn't harmed because of the type of witch she is. I don't know why it didn't harm Caroline."

Bonnie left the church, more confused than ever. This was the second time something strange and magical had happened around Caroline recently.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus' art show, Lucien shows up, Bonnie gets some vague advice from the dead and Jeremy reenters our story.

“So…. what do you think?”

Klaus looked around the exhibition in amazement. He had no idea how Caroline was able to put all of this together in just one day. She’d organized all of this without his knowledge and somehow knew exactly which pieces he most wanted to show off. In hindsight, he shouldn’t have been so surprised; his blonde angel always proved that she knew him better than he thought.He turned to look at his muse and took the offered champagne from her. “It’s amazing, love.”

“Tell me I’m not about to spend three hours looking at naked paintings of Caroline.” Katherine said from behind them, walking in with Elijah on her arm.

“Oh, please. Like I’d let a bunch of random people see that. I left those ones at home.” Caroline snorted. She kissed Klaus’ cheek and said, “I’ve got a few things to discuss with one of the planners. I’ll see you later. Enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh I will.” Katherine said, looking intently at Elijah.

“Katerina, please. We’re here to support Niklaus.”

“You’re here to support him. I’m here to get under that perfectly tailored suit and stop Caroline from killing any incompetent caterers.” Katherine finished her drink and said, “I’m gonna go unnerve some ‘art experts’, wish me luck.”

The doppelganger walked off, leaving the brothers alone. Shortly after, the crowd had been let in and Klaus decided to stand out of the way to hear the comments.

“It’s a derivative fiasco—little atmosphere, less technique. It’s nothing more than a self-congratulatory ego trip.” The hybrid heard a middle-aged man say to the two women with him.

“I wouldn’t expect you to host an art show without compelling the critics to speak your praise” came a familiar voice from next to Klaus.

“And I wouldn’t expect an uncultured savage to crash such a formal affair. “ Klaus smirked and turned towards the man, “What can I say Lucien, I’ve gotten better at accepting criticism recently.”

The younger man was about to respond when Caroline quickly walked over to Klaus. “Wow. That guy was rude. What makes him an expert anyway? Maybe I should tell Kat she can eat him.”

“There’s no need for that,” Klaus said, wanting to keep Caroline away from Lucien for the time being. His oldest progeny looked at the blonde curiously and was about to say something when he was interrupted.

“Nice try, Blondie. We may be besties, but I don’t eat junk food. Even for you.” Katherine said, sounding bored. She gave another judging look at the critic. “But I do compel people who annoy me out of their life’s work.” She added before sauntering off. Caroline stared after her, trying to feel guilty for what Katherine would unleash upon the poor man.

“Well, Nik, aren’t you going to introduce us?” Lucien asked his sire, curious about the blonde. “I guess I’ll do it myself. Lucien Castle, oldest non-Original in existence.”

Caroline looked the vampire up and down, he reminded her of pre-wolf Tyler. She sensed that Klaus didn’t want Lucien to know about who she was or what she meant to him. Deciding to play the bitchy cheerleader for a moment. “Caroline. I have to go make sure Kat doesn’t decide to eviscerate that guy.” The blonde walked away without a second glance.

“She certainly is hard to impress. Reminds me of someone else. Oh well, can we please get a drink? I am quite parched.”

For the next few hours, Klaus kept Lucien busy, discussing past adventures and misdeeds. When the exhibition ended, Caroline caught Klaus’ eye over Lucien’s shoulder as she told Katherine they should move the party somewhere else. Soon, it was just Lucien and Klaus in the club.

“Lucien-what are you really doing in my city?”

The vampire looked startled at being confronted for a second before recovering. “News has spread, old friend. Every vampire in the world knows you’ve been attacked. A number of times nearly killed.”

“I can assure you that all those who stood against me ended up either desiccated, dust or dinner.”

“Yes, but what if it had gone the other way. When Finn was killed, we all learned the truth-the life of every vampire is linked back to the Original who begat the line. Kol’s death confirmed it. Two entire lines of vampires wiped out! As you can imagine, the threat level doesn’t sit well with those of us who remain.” Klaus looked at the man, unamused and slightly agitated. “The attacks on you show that you are not completely invulnerable. While you’ve wallowed in your family affairs, your progeny have grown restless. The world is a finite place, territory limited. Even ancient vampires are not above vicious turf-wars. What if I told you there’s a growing conflict between the remaining sirelines? Suppose one of them wanted to annihilate the other? By killing Elijah? Rebekah? You?”

“You came all this way to warn me, then?”

“Think about it! Kill an Original, wipe out an entire line of competition! A tempting goal, made more so by the fact that your family isn’t as united as it once was.”

Klaus stood up at the implication and backed Lucien against the bar top. “My family is hardly weak! The last of the white oak is gone. We are unkillable.”

“Are you so certain it’s all gone? Every last splinter of it? Vanished for good?”

Klaus grabbed Lucien by the throat and lifted him up off the floor. “Lucien, if you had the slightest inkling any fragment of white oak still existed, you would of course tell me.”

“Easy, Nik. You are my sire. My fate is linked to yours. The problem is that the other two sirelines know that too.”

“If they’re so eager to die, then so be it. “ Klaus dropped Lucien and walked out. As he rounded the last corner on the way home, he decided to grovel a little bit and ask the Bennett witch for help. If anyone could track down and destroy any remaining white oak, it was her.

* * *

 

Bonnie sat in her room, thinking about what Davina had told her. The spells of the witches of New Orleans didn’t affect Caroline and she didn’t know how or why. Thinking back, Bonnie realized something had changed about Caroline, but she couldn’t quite figure out what. She looked the same, forever seventeen, but she felt different.

**_“What did that wall ever do to you?” Kol appeared and asked._ **

“Nothing. I’m just…lost.”

**_“About your blonde friend, Elena or the fact that you can see the dead?”_ **

“Both. All of the above. I just wish I knew why any of this is happening.”

**_“I told you. The Spirits chose you as an emissary.”_ **

“Yeah, but why can I only see you, Grams and Qetsiyah?”

**_“Because you’ve only tried to reach out to the three of us.”_ **

“What?”

**_“When you want to see me, your magic reaches out so to speak. When you got angry with the witches, it made you reach out to Qetsiyah for some reason. When you were afraid of losing control, you reached for Grams. You can talk to any of the dead, not just us.”_ **

“So I could reach out, talk to anyone? Like say, Jenna”

**_“You should be able to. Try it.”_ **

Bonnie closed her eyes and cleared her mind. She thought of Jenna and focused on the last time she saw Jenna, the day before the sacrifice.

**_“Hey Bonnie, long time no see.”_ **

Bonnie opened her eyes and exclaimed, “Jenna! I’m so sorry we couldn’t stop the sacrifice. I…I might have a way to do that now.”

**_The blonde laughed, “It’s okay. I found peace, I’m happy here. Although its nice to see you.”_ **

“I…. I can’t believe this is happening.” Bonnie paused for a second. “Is there anything you need or want to tell me?”

**_“As in do I have a message for Jeremy and Elena or something? No. You’re not a personal messenger Bonnie. Helping Kol talk to his siblings isn’t why you were chosen. It’s an added bonus. There is something I need to tell you.”_ **

“What is it?”

**_“Something is definitely happening to Caroline, and it’s been going on for a few months.”_ **

“Is she going to be ok? What’s happening to her?”

**_“I can’t tell you, you have to solve the mystery for yourself. There’s at least one person over here that can explain it. Figure out when she started to change and you’ll know who to talk to.”_ **

* * *

 

Caroline walked into the compound and sighed, she doubted this new ‘friend’ of Klaus’ was good news. As she got ready to check in on the twins and head to bed, her phone beeped. She looked and saw she had a text. 

**> >FROM JEREMY: WE NEED TO TALK.**

Caroline sighed and dialed the phone as she walked into the twins’ room. Jeremy picked up on the second ring.

“Caroline?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong? Is it Elena, did something happen?”

“No, its nothing like that. I just…had a bad week and wanted to hear the girl’s gurgles. Are they awake or is it past their bedtime?”

Caroline heard a giggle behind her and saw that Josie was awake. “Yes, but I think Josie’s decided she isn’t sleepy yet.” Caroline looked at her phone and a thought came to her. “Are you near a computer? I think Skype might be a better idea.”

“I’d like that. “

Caroline ran to her room to grab her laptop and some herbs Nora had left with her. Returning to the twins’ room she saw that Josie had woken up Lizzie and both were looking curiously at her. She opened Skype and called Jeremy. When his face appeared, she put a finger to her lips and lit the sage in her hand. Once she was done, she said, ”Now we can talk.”

“I thought you needed a spell for burning sage to do any good.”

“I had a witch spell some sage for me, for cases just like this.” Caroline walked over to Lizzie’s crib, took her out and laid her down on the rug. Doing the same to Josie, she told both girls “Say hi to Jeremy. He hasn’t seen you in a quite a while.”

The toddlers’ gurgled and reached towards the face on the computer.

“Hi Lizzie, hi Josie. Wow you both got so big!” Jeremy said smiling. After laughing at the girls’ attempts to touch his face, he sobered. “Why do you need to burn sage, who don’t you want to overhear us talking?”

“Ok, promise not to get mad? I’m with Bonnie and we ran into a few old acquaintances after leaving Mystic Falls.”

“You mean Klaus. You’re in New Orleans aren’t you?” Caroline didn’t respond, which he took as a yes. “Well, that is the safest place for the twins I guess. At least tell me he doesn’t know about Elena or that thing I gave you.”

“So far Elena hasn’t come up and I’m trying to keep it that way. The other thing no one knows about, not even Bonnie.”

“What about Katherine? I saw her, I know she’s alive.”

“No, she doesn’t know. Please tell me you haven’t told either of the Salvatore’s she’s alive.”

“Nope. The only person I said something to was Matt by accident a few days ago and he didn’t seem that shocked. I’m guessing he knew”

“He came to check on me because he hadn’t heard from me in over a week. He saw her here. He also had been compelled not to tell anyone else, in any way, shape or form where we are or what he witnessed. Before you get upset, he actually requested it.”

Jeremy just nodded, still processing the information. “There’s another reason I called. I need a favor or two from you.”

“What is it?”

“The case, is it hidden?”

“Not yet, I haven’t been able to get away long enough to hide it.”

“Shit. You need to do that soon. There might be something else I need you to hide.”

“How does an art student keep coming across stuff like this?”

“Caroline, we both know I didn’t really go to art school. I’ve been hunting, which Ric no doubt told you, and gathering supernatural knowledge and sometimes artifacts. Along the way, I learned of a defunct organization that did the same thing. I’m still chasing down leads.”

“So you’re just giving me a bunch of supernaturally dark objects that you find?”

“I’m asking you to help me keep some very dangerous stuff buried. If not for me, do it for your girls.”

“Fine. But for the record, I don’t like this.” Caroline sighed, “The sage is almost completely burned, I’ll talk to you later.” They quickly said goodbye and Carline ended the call.

Walking downstairs, she saw Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah in a heated debate. “She doesn’t work for you. You can’t expect her to just do spells at your beck and call.” Rebekah said.

“She was oh-so-willing to do so for Elijah not two months ago.” Klaus defended. “Need I remind you that she has something to lose as well if Lucien’s claims are true?”

“As true as that may be Niklaus, you cannot just demand things from a Bennett witch. I don’t trust him resurfacing after all this time with such a vague warning.”

“His life is linked to mine, I’d say he has a vested interest in my survival.”

“Survival, yes. But this could still be a trap Nik.”

“What are you three arguing about?” Caroline asked, knowing this conversation was going in circles.

“Lucien, my first sireling, is here because the three sirelines are apparently at odds with each other and taking out an Original ends an entire line of competition.”

“Sure, but the only thing that can kill you is white oak, which you destroyed.”

“He seems to think otherwise, love. Which is why I want to ask your friend Bonnie to do a locator spell to find it.”

“Again, she’s not here to perform spells at your whim!” Rebekah shouted.

“Will you three shut up? I’m trying to sleep.” Bonnie said from the balcony. “I’ll do it, all right? I can’t promise anything though.” She then turned and walked away.

“Well, that solves it then. Night all.”

“No, Klaus, it doesn’t. Rebekah’s right, this could be a trap.”

“How do you mean, love?”

“In order to survive, all he needs for you to not die. He could be planning to desiccate you, like we did. Or trap you somewhere like the tomb vampires in 1864. For all you know he’s here to kill Rebekah or Elijah.” Caroline said calmly. “I mean, how much can you trust someone you haven’t known in centuries?”

“I don’t. I also can’t ignore what he’s saying. Especially since my death will kill you.”

“I’m not saying ignore him. I’m saying be cautious. He’s known you for a very long time; he knows how you think, or at least how you thought back then, for just as long. Take that into account when you deal with him. “

“He’s probably not alone either.” Rebekah said, rolling her eyes. “If he knows, so do the other two. “

“The other two?” Caroline asked. “As in the oldest vampires from your two lines?”

“Tristan de Martel, my first sireling and his sister Aurora, Rebekah’s. All three were turned around the same time. ”

“Great. Well I’m going to bed before any of you can give me worse news.” Caroline said, walking back upstairs.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For simplicity/geographic purposes, both Jackson’s apartment and the Abattoir are near the intersection of Royal St. and Toulouse St.

The next morning, the house saw a flurry of activity. Everyone besides Bonnie was up at dawn, waiting nervously for Bonnie to wake up and perform the spell. Lexi and Freya weren’t sure what was going on, but could tell it was serious based on how stressed everyone else looked. Katherine was about to go wake the witch up when Bonnie walked down the stairs.

“Sorry, I was having a last minute discussion with Grams about which spell to use. My normal one doesn’t account for an item being cloaked which it might be.” Bonnie stopped to catch her breath. She then turned to look at the Originals. “Ok, I need a map and please tell me one of you has the stake or some White Oak ash.”

Caroline started unrolling a world map as Elijah stepped forward holding a vial. “The stake was destroyed by Dahlia. This is the best we have.”

“It should be fine. I’m gonna put a clump of it on the map. Best-case scenario: it doesn’t move at all. Each clump that moves is a piece of White Oak you’ll need to find.”

Bonnie closed her eyes and started muttering under her breath. Everyone gasped as the ash began to move towards North America. It then split into two places. One clump settled near the Gulf Coast, the other went west toward California.

“Great, so we have two to worry about.” Klaus said agitated. “Lucien was right.”

“You don’t know that. The one closest to here is my biggest concern. Someone get me a map of New Orleans. “

Caroline came back into the kitchen with a printed out map of New Orleans. Bonnie repeated the spell with another clump of white oak ash. Everyone watched as the clump moved towards the French Quarter and settled at the corner of Royal and Toulouse.

“Isn’t that right here?” Lexi asked. “So the ash was reacting to itself.”

“No, it would have ignited if it was. Something made of White Oak is somewhere on this block.”

Klaus looked up from the map in realization. “The knight. The one I carved for Bekah when we were children.”

“What about it?”

“I gave it to Hope when she was born, its up in her playroom. Elijah collected the wood for me. Brother, what tree did it come from?”

“I honestly don’t know, “ the man said solemnly. “It was so long ago that it never crossed my mind. It was years before Henrik’s death.”

“We should destroy it anyway, just to be safe.” Rebekah said. “If that fell into the wrong hands, it could kill all of us. Nik can carve her another one.”

The others nodded in agreement. Klaus ran upstairs, returning a moment later with a crying Hope in one arm and the toy in the other. He wordlessly handed it to Bonnie. Freya spoke up. “There has to be a spell in one of the grimoires to destroy it. You focus on destroying it, we’ll try and track down the other White Oak.”

* * *

 

The group dispersed, until only Caroline and Bonnie were left.

“I suppose we could always burn it.”

“I don’t think that will work Care. I don’t think Nature will let all of it be destroyed because of the balance.”

“So what do we do? Hide it.”

“Yeah. I’ll figure out a place soon.“ Bonnie said sounding distracted. “Can I ask you something? Has anything weird happened to you recently?”

“What do you mean?” Caroline asked alarmed.

“When the witches attacked me, their spell hurt everyone here. Everyone that is except Nora, you and myself. It makes no sense that you’d be immune. I mean, its weird right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“It’s probably nothing though. I mean, one unexplained occurrence isn’t a reason to worry.” Bonnie said, trying to reassure herself.

“Two actually.” Caroline admitted. “Something weird has happened around me twice.”

“What? When?”

“The day Kat and I went shopping for spell ingredients. Marcel cornered us outside the shop, and was about to attack. One minute I was thinking about how I wanted to avoid the fight; the next him and his minions were on the ground unconscious.”

“I thought you said that was Nora.”

“No, I just implied it because I had no other explanation.” The blonde said, sounding guilty. “I’ve also felt weird for a while. Like, for months awhile. At first I thought it was because I was recovering from giving birth, but now I’m not so sure.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened. “I think I might know who to talk to.” Without waiting for a reply, Bonnie ran upstairs, leaving Caroline confused.

* * *

  **Shanghai**

Tristan was about board his private flight to Nepal to visit his sister when his phone rang. “Isaac, I trust you found it.” The man said, in lieu of a greeting. “What do you mean someone got there first? Which sireline? …. It was a human. That’s just fantastic. Go. Find him. Bring the item and the human to me. Alive.”


	19. Chapter 19

Bonnie raced up to her room. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t made the connection before. Of course the Gemini coven might know what was happening to Caroline! They did trust her with the entire future of their coven. Plus, Jo would have wanted to stay involved in the twins’ lives. Closing her eyes, Bonnie focused on her memories of Jo and Alaric’s wedding. It was the last time any of the Gemini coven were alive.

**_“Hi Bonnie.” Jo said._ **

“Hi. Does your family have something to do with what’s wrong with Caroline?”

**_“Nothing’s wrong with her, she’s just…. changing. I’m not the ghost you should talk to._ **

**_“Well, well, well. I knew sooner or later you’d seek me out.”_ **

"Qetsiyah."

**_"Let me guess, this is about your blonde friend?"_ **

"What's happening to her?"

" ** _Go get her. If I tell you and you tell her, stuff is going to get lost in translation. That and I have a selfish reason for wanting to see her reaction."_**

Bonnie gave Qetsiyah a withering look before running to grab Caroline. A minute later, the blonde entered the room with Klaus trailing behind her.

**_"Great. The hybrids here." She said dryly. "Light that candle on the table and repeat after me: phasmatos revelare."_ **

Bonnie did as ordered and the two vampires jumped as Qetsiyah appeared.

"Why is Tessa here?"

"She has something she needs to tell you. "

**_"Something about you changed. You're still you but you're different now."_ **

"And you know what it is?"

"You're the result of Nature, the universe, etc. trying to maintain itself."

"What does that mean for those of us who aren't psychotic?"

**_"Do you know what the first rule of thermodynamics is?"_ **

"Energy can't be created or destroyed, only transformed." Klaus said.

**_"Correct. The universe is a closed system. What's happening to you is the result of the universe transforming a massive amount energy because that law is absolute."_ **

"What energy could it be transforming?"

**_Qetsiyah turned to look at Klaus. "I need you to leave now. This is between me, Bonnie and Caroline." Klaus gave her a glare and walked out. "Magical energy, as a result of your heritage."_ **

"Could you be more vague?"

**_"Actually, yes. Contrary to what you may think, your doppelgänger friends aren't direct descents of Silas and Amara. They're the descendants of their siblings, Silas' brother and Amara's sister."_ **

"What does that have to do with me?"

**_"I'm getting to that. Silas also had a sister, whose great-great-great- add about fifty more greats- granddaughter was born Elizabeth Matthews."_ **

"But that's my-"

**_"Mother, I know. She's descended from Silas, as are you. You are the last child of that line."_ **

"What does Caroline's ancient ancestor have to do with this?"

**_"Think about it, Silas was incredibly powerful, with him dead and the Other Side destroyed, both his power and the energy keeping the Other Side in place were released. All the energy had to go somewhere. As a failsafe, the Spirits decided a long time ago that it should go to Helen's latest descendant."_ **

"But I'm a vampire."

**_"That energy is like the cure I created; it simply needed to exist, it didn’t have to be used. The power you have merely had to exist on this plane, it didn't need to be accessible. It sat dormant in your blood and it would have stayed that way, but then an impossible thing happened: A vampire gave birth to two little baby witches. The impossibility of that created a Nexus Vorti which activated your powers."_ **

"So I'm a witch and a vampire now?"

**_"And immortal, more powerful than the Originals."_ **

"Why do you seem so calm? I thought you hated Silas and everyone related to him."

**_"Oh I did. But Helen was the one person who tried to warn me about Silas. So she gets a pass."_ **

"Why didn't I start to have abilities right after giving birth? ”

**_“You did. You just didn’t use them because you didn’t know you had them. When you felt threatened, your magic reached out to protect you, like knocking out the vampires. Ever since then, you’ve been able to do magic.”_ **

“How…how am I supposed to deal with this?”

**_“Remember that warehouse Silas found Amara in? Go there. The Travellers left a lot of stuff behind trying to catch Silas. It just might be useful.”_ **

“Why should we believe any of this? You did torture Stefan and make Bonnie, your own descendant, the Anchor knowing painful that would be. Doesn’t really inspire confidence.”

**_“What do I have to gain by lying?” Qetsiyah asked. When neither girl stopped staring expectantly at her, she sighed and said, “Fine. Can I get a little help here?”_ **

**_“She’s telling the truth.” The girls turned around and saw Emily Bennett. “The Spirits, or what’s left of us, decided to punish Qetsiyah in our own way. Since her lies caused two thousand years of suffering, she no longer has the ability. Miss Forbes is descended from Silas and now holds his power. Should the need arise, it would be my pleasure to assist you in harnessing and growing your abilities.”_ **

“Thank you.” Caroline said. Emily nodded and turned away, disappearing.

**_“Well now that the cat's out of the bag, I suppose I can return to the rest of my eternity.”_ **

A second later, Qetsiyah was gone. Caroline exited the room and jumped when she saw Klaus standing in the doorway. "Did you get an answer?”

"Yes, but you wouldn’t believe it. Hell, I don’t even believe it. I have magic now.”

"Well, you have Bonnie and Freya to help you at least. Do you have plans for the rest of the day?"

"I need to leave" Caroline said distractedly.

"What? Why? Because the dead witch told you to?"

"No, I just need some space to figure this out. It's a lot of information and being surrounded by supernatural drama isn't going to help."

"Tell me what you need"

"I...my dad used to have a vacation place in New Jersey. I'm gonna take the girls there for a few days, process all of this." Caroline said, feeling guilty for lying yet again to Klaus.

"I'll come with you."

"Don't you already have enough on your plate? I mean you do have a city to run."

"My siblings can look after the quarter for a few days. Besides, as your last love it's my job to support you in times like this."

"Well I can't argue with the sentiment, especially with the puppy eyes right now." 

* * *

 

The pair discussed logistics for a few minutes and decided to leave early the next day. Now, all that was left to do was tell everyone else. Klaus was telling his siblings and Hayley; Caroline would tell everyone else.

"Brother, Caroline received some surprising news and needs some space to think. The twins, Caroline and I are going out of town for a few days. I'm leaving you in charge."

Elijah and Rebekah looked startled, and Elijah asked, “What was this news?"

"It was a personal matter and I'm not at liberty to say."

"What about Hope?" Rebekah asked. “Don’t you want her to come with you?”

The hybrid sighed. "That something I need to discuss with Hayley. I'd love to bring her, but Caroline said I need Hayley to agree."

* * *

 Caroline walked into Katherine’s room. Luckily, Lexi and Bonnie were there as well. "Guys, I'm leaving for a few days with the twins and Klaus."

"Because of the Tessa thing?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline nodded. "It's a lot to process, which I can't do here, with everything going on." The rest of the group nodded, not really understanding what Caroline and Bonnie were talking about but sensing it was serious. 

* * *

 

"Caroline and I are going away for a few days and I'd like to take Hope with us." Klaus said, standing in the doorway of Jackson’s apartment. He hadn’t been invited in.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Hayley inquired.

"I'm trying to start a discussion. There's going to be times when I want to take her somewhere and times you want to do the same. Short of one of us snapping the other's neck and absconding with her, the only solution is to discuss the trip together. "

"Ok, I'll bite. Where are you going and for how long?"

"Caroline’s father has a house in New Jersey. We're gonna be gone for four days."

Hayley sighed, she didn’t like the idea of Hope being on the other side of the country, but at the same time, letting Klaus take Hope on a trip meant he’d have to eventually return the favor. "Fine. If you're not back in exactly four days, I'm hunting you down."

Klaus nodded and walked away satisfied.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caroline gets some answers, Bonnie and Davina get closer, Mystic Falls things happen, and Jeremy appears

**NEW JERSEY**

Caroline spent two days distracting Klaus in New Jersey. They were staying at a beach house the blonde had compelled her way into and wasted two days playing at the beach with the girl. Caroline knew she only had one more full day to find the warehouse Qetsiyah had told her about. As the days dragged on, she started to get desperate. She was trying to find a way to get some distance from the hybrid when Klaus walked in.

“Well, the girls are asleep. Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?”

“For explaining why you’ve spent the last two days trying to get away from me. I’m not stupid, love. I know the difference between disinterest and a desire to be left alone.”

“I’m sorry! Its just…I don’t know how to tell you what I want to tell you or how to explain why I need to be alone right now. Its not that I don’t want to tell you, I just don’t know how.” The blonde said with her voice cracking.

The hybrid came over to her and gave her a hug. “It’s all right, love. I’m not angry; I just want to help you. I thought you knew that. “

The blonde put her arms around his neck and looked him in the eyes. “I know. And I’m really sorry about this.” Klaus was about to respond when Caroline twisted her hands and snapped his neck. “I need to do this on my own.” She said as she ran out the door.

 

Caroline sped down the road, not knowing how much time she had. Klaus would recover from a broken neck quickly and she knew he would be angry with her. She hoped he’d awaken and call her before running after her, or choose to give her time and stay with the girls. Both outcomes seemed unlikely but she had to hope. As she reached the warehouse, a strange feeling came over her. She felt like something had been missing and the warehouse held the answer.

Walking inside, she saw the building was deserted except for a few rotting Traveller corpses. The interior also had a trail of destruction leading from the doorway far into the building. Following the wake of destruction, she found herself standing in front of a large crate, big enough to hold a person.

“So this is where Amara spent her eternity.” Caroline said, staring at the empty container. After a moment, she started to get a strange vibe from something nearby. It was like one of the crates was calling out to her, demanding to be opened.

Opening a crate the size a trunk, she found a collection of old, leather bound books and some odds and ends. A few Passenger killing knives, containers of herbs, and a bundle of cloth were stacked on top of something in the crate. Moving them, she found an ancient looking goblet underneath.

**_“Ah. The chalice that started it all. I wondered when you would get here.”_ **

Caroline whipped around and stood face-to-face with a brunette woman dressed like an extra from 300. “Who are you?”

**_“Helen, but you already knew that. Its nice to meet you Caroline.”_ **

“How am I seeing you right now? I can’t see ghosts and you’re dead.”

**_“A little help from the Spirits. I knew from the beginning that the failsafe in case Qetsiyah’s purgatory vanished would be a descendant of mine. I wanted to be here, in some way, to see it. I knew one day, if the Other Side imploded, my descendant would be drawn to this place. I could not find peace until this was found. I’ve spent two thousand years waiting and now, I go to rest.” Helen began to turn away._ **

“Wait! So it’s all true? What Qetsiyah told me.”

**_“Yes, its true. Farewell Caroline Forbes.” She said as she faded into nothing._ **

Caroline looked down at her phone and saw six missed calls from Klaus and two from Bonnie. Deciding to face the music, she repacked the crate and ran it out to her car. Within minutes, everything she needed was in the car and she was driving back to the house.

 

Klaus woke up with a sore neck. Looking around, he saw Caroline nowhere but still heard the girls asleep in the other room. He was both shocked and saddened that Caroline had broken his neck and ran away. He knew he couldn’t leave Hope or the twins alone to track her and decided calling her was the next logical step.

After calling twice and leaving a message, he thought reaching out to the Bennett witch might be a good idea. Dialing Bonnie’s number, he grew more agitated by the minute.

“What do you want Klaus?”

“Caroline’s missing.”

“You lost my best friend?”

“I didn’t lose her. She snapped my neck and ran off. When I awoke, she was gone.”

“I made her cloaked from locator spells. What do you want me to do?”

“We’re at her father’s beach house. Is there somewhere she’d go to think when she visited?”

“What beach house? Caroline’s dad didn’t own any vacation homes.”

“The one in New Jersey.”

“Let me guess, an hour outside Trenton?” Bonnie said with a sigh. “I know where she went. She’s looking for answers and knowledge about what’s happening to her. Qetsiyah may have told her where all those trails lead. That’s where she is. She’ll be fine.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“Because not even you could harm her at the moment.” Bonnie said and then hung up. Klaus called Caroline twice more and began pacing. After about twenty minutes, he heard a car pull up outside the house. Running outside, he saw Caroline getting out of the SUV dragging a trunk behind her. He stalked outside and stood in the doorway with his arms crossed.

“You lied to me. You didn’t need to clear your head; you’ve never stayed here before. Your father never stepped foot in this state, did he?”

“No, he didn’t. And no, I didn’t need to clear my head, I needed to find answers. Which I finally did. I’m sorry for breaking your neck.”

“I don’t care about that! Do you have any idea how worried I was? I woke up and you had vanished.”

“Do you have any idea how scared I still am? I found out two days ago that I’m not even the species I thought I was! I have no idea what having magic means for you, for me, for my family! I can’t even tell you what Qetsiyah told me without you freaking out! You had centuries to adjust to the idea of being a hybrid and learning about wolves, I’ve had two days. Most of which I spent trying to ignore how much all of this is going to change things.” Caroline said, gesturing to everything as she spoke. She looked at Klaus and then looked away. Taking a breath to calm herself, she spoke. “I…I want to go back to New Orleans. I got what I need and I need to face my own issues.”

Klaus nodded, looking lost, and mumbled something about helping pack the girls’ things.

* * *

 

**New Orleans-**

Two days after Caroline left, Bonnie was walking through Lafayette cemetery to meet Davina. She decided to surprise the Regent and treat her to lunch. As Bonnie turned the corner towards the Lycee, she saw Davina addressing a group of people.

"I told you, it couldn’t be undone. We just need to move forward. Our ancestors are still here. If we lose faith in them, then we are truly lost."

“I find it awfully convenient that the Bennett witch is only willing to teach you and no one else.”

“We attacked her, the only people who apologized or tried to make amends was myself and Vincent. Why should she want to help people who attacked her?”

“So if we apologize, will she teach us?” a young witch named Ava asked

“I don’t know. It’s Bonnie’s decision who she does or doesn’t teach. Our Ancestors believe in this path though.”

"How can we be sure this isn't punishment for having an unfit regent?"

"You're welcome to contact the Ancestors yourself, Van."

"The Ancestors would just punish her, not the whole community." An older woman said in Davina’s defense.

"The Ancestors want us to remain strong and adapt. They also wish for us to avoid a turf war with the vampires at this time." Kara Nguyen scoffed and turned to walk out. "Kara, I did not dismiss you."

The older witch began to mutter a spell under her breath in Creole. Afraid for her new friend and annoyed by the pushy witch, Bonnie decided to intervene. Silently, she began casting a spell. Kara managed to walk about five feet before she ran into a barrier.

"What is this? Why can't I leave?"

Her son ran over. When he couldn’t leave either, he turned to Davina. "What did you do?”

"It would seem that you guys are trapped in here." Bonnie said deciding to make her presence known. "Interesting."

Both Nguyens began glaring at Davina. "Do the counter spell. Now."

"Oh Davina didn't do it. All her spell did was try to stop your mother from destroying her hands. Besides, she couldn't perform this spell."

"Why not?" Kara spat out.

"Last time I checked, a witch can only perform one spell at a time. I guess the Ancestors want you to listen for once.” Bonnie said walking past the barrier. "I’ve seen something like this before. Some spells keep people out, this one keeps them in.”

"But now you're stuck here too."

"Yeah, but we’re not exactly evenly matched at the moment, as some of you know.”

"Why is this so funny to you?” a voice from the crowd asked.

"I don't know. I’m bored. Most of you annoy me. I’m still mad about what happened the other day and want to start a fight. Take your pick.”

Kara Nyugen became incensed. "Why you little-"

"God, you're annoying." Bonnie waved her hand and Kara fell to the ground. Van looked at Bonnie worried. "Relax, I just gave her a little magical bump on the head.” There was a big gust of wind. When it died down, Bonnie took a step back, over the boundary. “Look at that, the boundary’s down. I guess you all can leave now.”

Most of the witches left, walking quickly and giving Bonnie a wide berth. Van gave Bonnie a parting glare and walked off. Ava, Michelle, Davina and Vincent were the only ones who stayed.

“Sorry about that. The woman really pisses me off.”

“Kara pisses everyone off.” Vincent said. “She also has a long memory.”

“I’m shaking” Bonnie said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry.” Ava said, out of nowhere. “For what the others did or tried to do to you. “

“Why are you apologizing for something you didn’t do? Let me guess, you want me to teach you magic.”

“If you don’t mind. I know there are probably more important witches like the Elders who want your help.” She said nervously.

“And is that what you want too, Michelle?” the other witch nodded. “I’ll think about it, ok?” Both girls grinned and ran away, leaving Bonnie, Vincent and Davina standing there. “I actually didn’t come here to pick a fight. Davina, wanna get lunch? I’m buying.”

“Sure” Davina replied, happy that Bonnie was reaching out to her. “There’s a new place on the other side of the Garden District I’ve been wanting to try.”

 

Once at the restaurant, Bonnie and Davina sat and made small talk for a while. Soon Davina got quiet, as if she was contemplating something.

“Ask it” Bonnie said. “I can tell you want to ask something. What is it?”

“How are you connected to the Mikaelsons?”

“Before Klaus came here two years ago, he was living in my hometown. He came there looking for something and a few of my friends got caught up in the situation. Extremely long story short, Caroline and I had an uneasy alliance with Klaus and Elijah when they left. “

“Did you meet any of the other Originals?”

“Finn, I met briefly before he died. Kol I got to know pretty well. I know both of the people who killed them. That’s why the remaining Originals don’t really trust me.” Bonnie sighed, trying to change the subject. “Now, how did a sixteen year old become Regent?”

“My coven has this ritual called the Harvest, I’m the last remaining girl who was picked to participate, which means I’m more powerful than a lot of other New Orleans witches. In addition, they wanted someone who would stand against the Mikaelsons, which I have in the past.”

The girls spent the rest of the meal chitchatting.

* * *

 

**MYSTIC FALLS**

“How long does it take to talk to one witch?” Damon asked exasperated.

“Well, her first lead didn’t pan out and you keep threatening her, so Bonnie’s staying away from here until she has a real answer.” Stefan replied.

“We already have a real answer. Kai gave it to us.”

“I don't care. We’re not killing Bonnie.”

"How do you know that Bonnie's even looking into waking Elena up?"

"The only person who wants Elena back more than Bonnie is Jeremy, so it's a pretty safe bet."

"Fine. If I don't hear from her soon though, we're gonna have problems."

Over the past nine months, Stefan watched his brother slowly go from 'normal Damon' to almost 'humanity-less Damon' as Elena's coma dragged on. The only reason he knew his brother hadn't turned it off was the level of rage he kept expressing towards Bonnie for not magically knowing the answer already.

"You know you're not the only one that misses her,” Matt said from the doorway. "You might be her 'soul mate' or whatever, but I've known her a hell of a lot longer than you. Stop acting like you're the only one affected by this."

"Oh Matt, I forgot you're still alive. I thought you got a paper cut and died. Again."

"You're a dick." Matt muttered before walking out.

 

As Matt got back to his house, he began to worry about how desperate Damon had become. He dialed a familiar number and as soon as they picked up, he said, “We have a problem.“

 

"We have a huge problem." Enzo said as he walked into the Lockwood mansion. "The Phoenix sword has been missing for close to a month."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Are you daft? Rayna is going to scour the earth until she finds it, killing anyone or anything in her way. And if she doesn't have it, then who does?"

“And what do they plan to do with it?”

* * *

 

**WITCHITA**

Jeremy looked over his shoulder as he drove into the city. The same blue Jeep had been following him since Scottsdale. He lost it just long enough outside Austin to stop and sleep. The hunter knew he was being followed, he just hoped it had nothing to do with the box in his trunk or what he gave Caroline. After two hours of driving, he found himself a few miles outside Lawrence. Deciding he was tired of running, he pulled into an abandoned parking lot and waited for the Jeep to follow. He got out of his car and stood with the door open. Two men and a woman got out of the other vehicle.

“There a problem guys?”

“Yes.” A brunette man who looked to be in his late twenties said. The ginger man and black haired woman with him both nodded. “We need you to come with us.”

“Why would I do that?”

“You have something of ours. My…supervisor wants it, as well as the person who found it. Just to ask a few question, procedures to follow and all that nonsense.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” Jeremy said unimpressed. He knew immediately what they were talking about.

“I’m afraid we have to insist,” said the woman.

“Insist all you want, I’m not coming with you.” Jeremy said. As he spoke, he grabbed the gun he had hidden on the door.

“So be it.” The woman ran forward at an inhuman speed. Before she could grab the door, Jeremy fired. She fell to the ground a moment later, skin turning grey. He then fired a second shot into her chest, hitting her heart. As her two companions stared in shock, Jeremy reached into the car to grab the duffel bag on the passenger seat.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jeremy asked the remaining vampires, fingers around the pin of his vervain grenade.

The two men rushed forward in an attempt to blitz him and he threw the weapon at them. While they were temporarily incapacitated, Jeremy shot each with his crossbow. He then shot the ginger in the heart with an arrow. Jeremy grabbed a stake out of him bag and walked over to the last remaining vampire. As he crouched down stake him, the man spoke, “You think killing us will change anything? We’re not the only ones looking for you. The Strix will find you, mark me words.”

“Sure they will.” Jeremy said as he killed him. The hunter then dug through the man’s car, looking for any clues on who these vampires were. After a few seconds of searching, he heard a ringing noise coming from one of the bodies. Walking over, he pulled a cell phone out of the ginger vampire’s pocket. “Jackpot.” Putting the phone in his car, Jeremy piled the vampires into their jeep, doused it in gasoline and lit a match. He dialed 911 and reported a burning car.

As Jeremy crossed into Arkansas, he made another call.

“I need to talk to you. Now. Someone’s been following me for a day and a half. Where are you?”


	21. Chapter 21

**SOMEWHERE OVER PHILADELPHIA**

**“** What did you mean yesterday?”

Caroline looked at the hybrid confused. “What did I mean about what?”

“You said you couldn’t tell me what Qetsiyah told you without me ‘freaking out’ as you put it. What did you mean?”

“As soon as I tell you, our whole dynamic will change. I don’t know if you’ll even look at me the same again.”

“Nothing, I repeat nothing, you say to me will change the way I feel about you.” Klaus said, reaching for her hand. “Now please. What’s going on?”

“I have all of Silas’ powers. As a failsafe, the Spirits decided a descendent of Silas’ sister would gain his powers should he die and the Other Side be destroyed. I’m the last member of that line. “

“How is that possible, you’re a vampire.”

“The ‘magical energy’ as Qetsiyah called it, just need to exist on this plane. It was dormant in me from the implosion of the Other Side until the twins were born.”

“Why?”

“A vampire giving birth to two witch twins is considered an impossible and miraculous event. Their birth activated my powers.”

“Why would this change things between us?”

“Silas tortured you, made you think you were dying. And he’s biologically related to me. I guess a part of me thought you’d hate me for that. “ Caroline said looking away. “There’s one more thing: having Silas’ powers means I dethroned you. I’m the most powerful being on the planet now.”

“It’s a blow to my ego, but I think I’ll live.”

Klaus was about to ask Caroline what she found on her excursion when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, paled and answered.

“I need to talk to you. Now. Someone’s been following me for a day and a half. Where are you?” came Jeremy Gilbert’s voice.

“Flying over Maryland. Why is someone following you?”

“I might have stumbled across something a bunch of vampires want. I need to give it to someone I trust.”

“Ok, I’m thinking. I’ll call Bonnie and tell her you’re coming. Keep moving, when you get to New Orleans, head to wherever she sends you. No matter what, stay there until I arrive.”

Caroline quickly hung up the phone and began calling Bonnie.

“You do realize you sent one of the Five into a city filled with vampires, right?”

“Jeremy isn’t one of the Five anymore. He still has the skills, but the Hunter’s curse and innate drive to kill went away once Silas died.”

* * *

  **NEW ORLEANS**

Bonnie, Davina and Vincent were discussing the use of different herbs in magic when Bonnie’s phone rang. She ignored it and then it rang again. Sensing something was wrong, she answered, hearing a frantic Caroline.

“Bonnie. Finally, we have an emergency.”

“What was is the emergency Caroline?” she asked casually. She was used to the blonde blowing situations out of proportion and figured whatever this ‘crisis’ was, it wasn’t a big deal.

“Jeremy’s on his way to New Orleans. He called me a few days ago about something. He said someone has been following him for two days. He’s probably gonna get there before my plane lands. I need you to keep him away from both the Abattoir and any vampires until I get there.”

“What? Why is someone following him and how did he know we’re here?”

“He didn’t say why he was being followed and he guessed where I was the last time I talked to him. He also guessed that I left with you.”

“Ok, don’t panic. I’ll call Jeremy as soon as I have a safe place to meet him.” Bonnie quickly hung up, her mind racing about what to do.

“Is everything ok?” Vincent asked, noticing how panicked the witch looked.

“My best friend’s brother who is also my ex is on his way to New Orleans.”

“Why is that a bad thing?” Davina asked.

“He hunts supernatural beings and is being followed by someone. I don’t know who or why. I also have no idea how I’m supposed to keep him safe once he gets here.”

“We could use the City of the Dead. All the ingredients for a boundary spell are in the Lycee. All we’d need is someone powerful to cast the spell.” Davina said.

“It’s a good thing we have someone then.” Vincent said, looking intently at Bonnie.

“Yeah, I can do it. “ Bonnie said, worried about Jeremy and curious about Caroline’s involvement in what was happening. She picked up her grimoire and called Jeremy. Trying to keep the conversation short, she told him she knew he was coming and where he needed to go.

 

Two hours later, Bonnie was waiting for Jeremy. Davina had agreed to keep her company after seeing how concerned the older woman was. A few minutes after Caroline called to say she’d landed, Jeremy came running around the corner towards the Lycee. A few seconds later, a man with a burned face turned the corner, tried to run forward but found himself unable to. He stared muttered something about ‘stupid witches and their stupid boundary spells’ before running off.

“Thanks, Bon.” Jeremy said sitting down. “You’ve got no idea how glad I am to see you.”

“No problem. Now, why exactly are you here?”

“I’m not really sure myself. All I know is someone was chasing me and between you and Caroline, this city was the safest place to be.”

Bonnie was about to ask why Caroline thought Jeremy would be safe when the vampire from earlier returned to the boundary, holding a woman by the neck.

“Give me the boy and what he took or I’ll kill her.”

“Not gonna happen.” Bonnie said.

The vampire quickly snapped the woman’s neck. “You witches, you’re so sanctimonious. You say you protect Nature, the balance, whatever but deep down, you’re just as bad as us. Willing to sacrifice anyone else to get what you want. After I kill him, I think I’ll kil-”

“I really hate it when people monologue.” Caroline said as the vampire fell to the ground with a broken neck. “Was he the only one after you, Jer?”

“Yeah. I think. I dealt pretty well with the others, but I couldn’t run forever.” He then looked awkwardly at Bonnie and Davina. “I’m sorry about all of this. You didn’t happen to bring Klaus, did you?”

“Why would you need him?” Davina asked.

“Because, whatever he has, he needs to leave here to hide or destroy and he knows my family is the best chance he has.” Klaus said, walking up behind Caroline. He knelt by the vampire and tore his heart out. “Shall we? Oh, and remember to undo the boundary spell this time.”

Bonnie quickly performed the counter spell; Davina said goodbye to Bonnie and the group headed to the Abattoir. As they walked into the compound, Caroline realized she hadn’t told Katherine about Jeremy’s visit. Luckily, Katherine wasn’t in the courtyard when they arrived.

“So, I guess I should start at the beginning.” Jeremy then looked at Klaus. “Umm…as much as I hate to say it, you’re gonna want the rest of your family to hear this too.”

Caroline gave the hunter a questioning look as Klaus ran to gather his siblings. Coming back downstairs with Elijah. Katherine and Freya, he said, “Rebekah is out, but she should be here shortly. Why exactly did I need to rescue Kol’s murderer?”

“Trust me. You’ll be happy you did in the long run.”

“Why isn’t Little Gilbert shocked to see me?”

“Because I saw you at Caroline’s house before you left. “ Jeremy retorted. “The voice was too bitchy to be Elena, so it had to be you. Before you ask, no neither Salvatore knows about this because they don’t need to.”

They took turns glaring at each other until Rebekah came storming into the building. “Ok, what’s this big emergency? Why is the ex-Hunter here?”

“He hasn’t explained. We were waiting for you.”

“I didn’t give up hunting, I just chose different targets. Mostly vampires going off on rampages. I also took up Ric’s old habit of tracking down some rare and dangerous supernatural items. I was in Arizona, when I found this.” Jeremy pulled a stake out of his jacket, but it wasn’t just any stake, it was made of White Oak. “I was going to give it to Caroline to hide. “

“Why Caroline?”

“I trust her a lot more than I trust any of you. She also has the ability to hide it better than any of you.”

“How?” Rebekah asked. “She’s just a baby vampire.”

Jeremy looked startled at her reaction and turned to Caroline. By the look in his eyes, he somehow knew Caroline had magic now. “You didn’t tell them? “ When the blonde shook her head, he shrugged and decided to change the subject. “The stake isn’t why I had to race here. “ He then pulled a case out of his bag and opened it. Inside was a red orb, about the size of a crystal ball. “I don’t know what it is or what it does. The second I had it, there were vampires on my tail. The last of which Klaus just disposed of.”

“Did they say what they wanted it for?”

“I didn’t really ask, Klaus. I was busy trying not to die. One said their organization was called the Shisk or something”

“The Strix?” Elijah asked.

“Yeah, sounds right. What exactly is that?”

“An organization I started, centuries ago, with vampires I sired. We were…trying to build a better world, understand the mystical better. I thought Mikael had killed them all.”

“Clearly he didn’t and they want that for some reason.” Bonnie said, pointing to the orb in Jeremy’s hand. Caroline stood looking at it entranced.

“It seems familiar. I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.” Caroline blinked and realized everyone was staring at her. “I’ll…. be right back.” Caroline took the stake from Jeremy and ran upstairs.

Once she was upstairs, everyone except Klaus and Bonnie turned to look at Jeremy. “Why is Miss Forbes better equipped to hide the stake than the rest of us?”

“Yeah, what does Blondie have going on that we don’t?”

“I can’t tell you that. Its not my secret to tell.”

“You’re asking us to trust you. You who killed one of our brothers and helped kill the other. You want us to trust you when you say some newbie vampire is the best option for our family’s survival but not tell us why. This goes way past giving you the benefit of the doubt. Now, tell me what you know or-”

“I’m not just a vampire.” Caroline said from the staircase. “I will explain the rest later, but I’m uniquely qualified to make sure the stake never gets found.”

“Why not just destroy it like it’s a weapon that could kill us all?” Katherine asked.

“Because of the balance.” Bonnie answered. “Nature demands balance. If you destroy that stake, Nature will make another White Oak tree grow. There has to be something in existence that could kill an Original. With the stake hidden, your weakness still exists and you don’t have to scour the earth for a white oak sapling.”

The vampires nodded begrudgingly. Her logic was sound but it was in their nature to want to destroy anything that could kill them.

“I found out what that object is.” Caroline said quietly, looking at the book she was holding. “It’s called the Orb of Gegute, believed to be Lithuanian in origin. Its date of origin is unknown but it’s believed to be at least fifteen hundred years old. It says if the Orb is dropped the powder within it creates an impenetrable boundary and any being caught in that boundary is-“

“Is what?”

“Is frozen in time and space. If the orb is dropped, whoever is stuck in that boundary is stuck in that moment forever. ” Caroline said, finally looking up. “I think I know why the Strix wanted it. They want to trap you in it.”

“Makes sense. “ Katherine said. “If you’re locked in one moment forever, you can’t be killed, so the vampires sired from you won’t die.”

“Wouldn’t a Strix member need to be trapped with them too?” Freya asked.

“Not necessarily.” Bonnie answered. “If the victim was tricked into dropping it or had it thrown at them, for lack of a better term, it would still break and trap them. Or maybe they’re willing to sacrifice someone to trap them.”

“Why would someone make something like that?”

“And how do we destroy it?”

“The book doesn’t say.” Caroline answered. “It says it was made by the _Dvyniai raganos covenas._ If we find out what that is, we might be able to get answers.”

“In the meantime, we need to hide it. Something that dangerous can’t just stay here.” Klaus stated.

“I’ll hide that as well then.” Caroline said, taking the closed case from Jeremy. “Bonnie, could you…make sure I don’t have an audience.” Bonnie nodded and silently performed a knockout spell on everyone except Caroline. The blonde quickly ran to where she’d hid Jeremy’s case, putting the Orb inside and closing it. When she reentered the courtyard, everyone was still asleep.

“You need to find a more permanent hiding space than that.“ Jeremy said.

“I know. Once I figure out how to do the cloaking spell that the Gemini are so fond of.” Carline then paused. “How did you know?”

"Alaric told me. The leads he was tracking down? They weren't only about Rayna. He decided to look into everyone’s bloodlines after the doppelganger and Kai fiascos. He said he wanted to be completely sure before he told you. That's why I came to you about that other thing." Bonnie looked between the pair and was about to ask when the vampires awoke from their forced naps.

"What did you do to us?" Rebekah asked.

"I needed to hide the orb. Bonnie knocked you out so you couldn't follow me."

"You still haven't answered Freya's question miss Forbes. Why are you qualified to hide the white oak and we're not?"

“I’m not just a vampire anymore. I’m a vampire-witch hybrid.”

“That’s not possible. You can’t be a vampire and a witch.”

“Tell that to the Heretics” Jeremy snorted.

“Wait, you said Heretics were a certain type of witch.”

“That is true, they’re siphoners who were turned into vampires. Their ‘condition’ meant they fell into a loophole of Nature, allowing them to keep their abilities. But that’s not the case with me.”

“Then what is?”

“It’s a result of my heritage. When the Other Side collapsed, a massive amount of mystical energy was released. The Spirits, to keep existence intact, gave a lot of that energy to me because of my lineage. That power was dormant within me until I had an impossible pregnancy which created a Nexus Vorti which awakened those abilities.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Klaus knows what's up with Caroline, and Elijah knows the Strix survived.


	22. Chapter 22

Caroline left the Abattoir around ten the next morning. She needed a less accessible place to hide the dark items Jeremy had left with her. The night before, she’d stayed up late, looking for large and isolated homes in the area around New Orleans. It would be useful as both a safe house should things in the French Quarter get dangerous and a good hiding place for the White Oak stake and the various items she’d brought from Mystic Falls. The blonde also decided an abandoned house was the best place to practice some of the more dangerous spells she knew she’d learn.

After touring three homes and deciding to buy the last one, an old plantation forty-five minutes outside the city, the blonde compelled the paperwork along. By twelve thirty, she was the proud owner of the house. Immediately after convincing the realtor to leave, the blonde set to work.

Pulling out one of the older grimoires from Alaric’s collection, she rifled through it until finding the spell she needed. After a few seconds of chanting, she felt a shift in the air. Bonnie once told her that she could feel when a spell worked, and now Caroline understood what that meant. The blonde sighed in relief, she had successfully cloaked the house, rendering it invisible to anyone she hadn’t invited. She then went to one of the outer buildings where she’d placed the dark objects she had. She quickly cloaked that building as well and used a variation of Emily Bennett’s tomb spell to prevent anyone other than her, whether they were vampire, witch or human, from entering.

Caroline rushed back to the city, excited to spend witchy-time with Bonnie. She also wanted to meet the witches Bonnie had spent days talking and complaining about.

* * *

 

Davina was in the middle of another tense meeting with the elders. They were unhappy that a hunter brought vampires into the cemetery and killed someone. They were even less happy that Bonnie was there.

"This is a matter for New Orleans witches, not outsiders."

"I am not here to discuss what happened yesterday. I have a standing appointment with your Regent to discuss teaching others what I know. I'm not your enemy."

"But you knew what was coming and did not warn us."

"It's not my place or yours to question the will of Nature. Stop blaming me for the consequence of your own actions."

"Someone will pay for this." Kara said as she went to storm away. She soon found herself thrown back, bleeding from her nose. As she got up, she was pushed into one of the gravestones. She and the other witches ran away.

"That didn't feel like the Ancestors." Davina said. "They don't normally react that way to threats."

"That's because it wasn't." A voice said. "Man, this is fun.”

"Caroline, you can stop now." Bonnie said. A few moments later, Caroline appeared standing next to the gravestone Kara had been thrown into.

"She was being a bitch and didn't you trap her here not two days ago?"

"That was you? " Davina asked. "You said it was the Ancestors."

"I lied. If they knew I cast it, they would have threatened me until I undid it. This way, they couldn't blame me. "

"You have got to teach me that spell."

"She can't. Only Bennetts can perform it. Hi, we haven't met, I'm Caroline."

"Davina. Why did you do that?"

"I just don’t like her. I’m also…stretching my magical legs so to speak.”

"Why are you here Caroline? I thought you were dealing with that thing."

"Thing has been dealt with, thanks to some help from Emily and Josette.” Caroline said, giving Bonnie a meaningful look and holding up two leather bound journals. “I’m trying to decipher centuries of mumbo jumbo. I figured it’d be quieter here than at home. I also figured a house full of children isn’t the best place to experiment. ”

"It's weird that the Ancestors keep picking on Kara" Vincent said walking into the Lycee.

"Yeah, that wasn't them, it was me. Last time it was Bonnie though."

"What exactly did you do?"

"Turned myself invisible and punched her in the face. Then I pushed her into a headstone to make it seem more 'the dead are angry with you'." Caroline turned to Bonnie. "Remind me to do that to Stefan at some point."

"Why did you do it though? She did nothing to you." Vincent asked.

"She threatened my best friend, she attacked said friend and that attack hurt my children. She's done plenty. I also just don't like her."

"Not that I want to get punched in the face, but so did we."

"You apologized. Bonnie seems to like you and the Mikaelsons like you."

"They do?" Vincent asked incredulously.

"Well, like might be too strong a word. They only like about five people. They don't hate you though. So, magic?"

No one knew what to say to that, so Bonnie began teaching and Caroline began reading. After about two and a half hours, Caroline got a weird feeling. Her snapped up and she looked at the trio.

“Did you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“It felt like some mystical something ran headfirst into me. Something changed, just now. Or something tried to. It was like…. Nature was telling me that something was wrong.“

“I didn’t feel anything.” Vincent said.

“Me neither.” Came from Davina.

“Maybe its because you’re more sensitive to Nature than the rest of is?” Bonnie suggested. “I mean your family does have a special connection with Nature and the will of Nature.”

“Maybe, but it just feels like something is off. “ Caroline replied. She was about to elaborate when her phone rang. Without looking, she answered. “Hello?”

“Hello gorgeous!” Enzo said. Caroline looked at Bonnie and rolled her eyes.

“What do you want Enzo?”

“I don’t suppose we could crash with you for a few days?”

“Who’s we?”

“The Heretics and I.” Caroline heard a scoff from the other end of the phone and knew the Heretics were listening.

“Put Nora or Valerie on the phone.” She waited and heard Enzo put the phone on speaker mode. A second later, Valerie spoke.

“Hello Caroline. I’m sorry about this.”

“Hi. Why do you need to stay with me?” the blonde asked, suspicious.

“There’s a tiny problem. The Phoenix Sword is missing and now that Julian knows that, he’s intent on finding it. He kidnapped Mary Louise and made her perform a locator spell.”

“Which didn’t work because the sword is too well hidden.”

“How do you know that?” Nora’s voice asked.

“Because I know who has it. I don’t know where its hidden but I know how well cloaked it is.” Caroline answered. “So the spell didn’t work.”

“No it didn’t. The attempt almost killed Mary Lou. We had to knock out his entire army to get her back. “ Nora said and began to sound panicked. “He’s not going to stop until he finds that sword. We need to get out of town and Bonnie made tracking someone into the Quarter nearly impossible.”

“You want me to convince the Originals to let you stay.” Caroline said, realization hitting her. “Fine. It’s the least I can do for helping me give birth and I owe Enzo a favor anyway. I need to warn you: they know what a Heretic is now. I can’t promise they’ll be nice, but I’ll convince them.”

“Thanks a lot, goldilocks.” Enzo said as he hung up the phone.

Caroline turned to look at Bonnie, Davina and Vincent, unsure of what to say. Seeing Bonnie’s worried look, she decided to summarize what she’d been told. “Enzo and the Heretics are coming. Julian is trying to make them locate an item that cannot be found and the attempt will eventually kill them. I don’t know how long they’ll be staying.” Caroline began to gather up her books and get ready to head home. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to convince the most paranoid person alive not to kill them when they get here.” Caroline turned and sped out of the Lycee at vampire speed.

“Wait, how is she a vampire and a witch?” Vincent asked. “That’s supposed to be impossible.”

“It’s really complicated.” Bonnie replied. “Until I have a chance to explain, I’d appreciate it if the others didn’t find out about this.”

* * *

 

Caroline came running into the compound, calling Klaus’ name. Elijah and Freya turned to look at her and were startled when they saw how worried she looked. Klaus came running downstairs a few seconds later.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“The Heretics are in trouble and need somewhere to go. “

“You want to invite a coven full of vampire-witch hybrids into my home?”

“There’s only three of them, plus a normal vampire. They’re friends of mine and they need help. “

“How long have you known them? A year? They could be a threat to you, my siblings, Hope. Not to mention your own children.”

“They’re the only reason the twins were born! I would have desiccated from the inside out if not for them.”

“One good deed. You’d let them stay here because they helped you one time? I love you but I can’t allow anyone who poses a threat to my family into my home.”

“You already do!” Caroline yelled. The building then began to shake. The other residents came to the courtyard to see what was happening and Bonnie arrived right as Caroline yelled. Klaus gave Caroline a confused look. “You have no idea what I can do. I have no idea what I can do. I have the magic that kept the Other Side in place. I have Silas’ magic.” The building continued to shake and outside car alarms were going off. “The biggest threat to your family’s existence isn’t the Heretics or your mother or even that stupid stake, its me. I could probably undo the very spell that created you if I tried. Why is it safe for me to stay here, but not them?”

Klaus could see Caroline was beginning to unravel and knew he needed to stop her before the earthquake she was causing affected all of Louisiana. “Because I know you’d never hurt us.”

Caroline relaxed at the reassurance but needed to get her point across. “I wouldn’t. I also wouldn’t let anyone else hurt you either.” Caroline said “I don’t need you trust them, I need you to trust me.”

“I do. The Heretics can stay here, as long as they don’t harm anyone living here.” Caroline sighed in relief and the shaking stopped.

“Thank god that’s over with.” Rebekah said. “Maybe next time you two have a lovers quarrel, do it somewhere people won’t notice a bloody earthquake.”

“Are we not gonna talk about what Blondie just blurted out?” Katherine asked. “The whole ‘I-have-Silas’-magic’ thing should be the bigger concern.”

“Unfortunately, I agree Miss Forbes. How is this possible?”

“I’m the last descendant of Silas’ sister. As a failsafe I inherited his magic plus about half the magic that kept the dimension intact when the Other Side collapsed. Not only do I have the same amount of magic as him, but according to Qetsiyah and some other witches, I have more. Which makes me the most powerful being on the planet and not Klaus.”

Caroline didn’t want to wait to hear their reactions so she ran upstairs. The reactions of everyone ranged from shock (Freya and Katherine) to disbelief (Elijah and Rebekah). Everyone opened their mouths to speak when Lexi intervened.

“Let’s just stop and take a breath. Whether you believe it or not, Caroline’s statement at least has some validity, especially given what we just witnessed. “ The blonde vampire said staring in the direction of Caroline’s room. “What she is shouldn’t matter. Yes, she might be a threat to you, but the three of you have always been a threat to her until recently and remain one to every non-Original vampire. Its unfair to demand that she trust you and not extend the same courtesy in return.”

“I agree.” Bonnie said, looking at the Mikaelsons. “Vampire, witch or something in between, she’s still Caroline. Silas was evil because that’s who he was; Caroline is not. You didn’t want to be defined by Mikael; she doesn’t want to be defined by him. At least give her the chance.” Bonnie and Lexi both walked upstairs to comfort the blonde, leaving the Originals and Katherine downstairs.

“Well? What’s your take on all this Nik? You don’t seem that surprised.”

“I already knew. Caroline told me what she learned on the flight home yesterday. You didn’t see her when she told me; she’s terrified of losing everyone she cares about because of this. I’m aware of my own bias towards her, but I agree with the witch.”

“I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt. Right now she’s scared and feels alone. If anyone knows what they feels like, its us.” Freya said.

“You can’t be serious. She can still kill us all.” Rebekah said. “Is she really worth that risk?”

“What’s the alternative? She’s immortal; the cure is gone. She cannot be killed. We either trust her or we push her away.” Elijah said. “We’ve always known we could die and our immortality could be undone, by the cure or by magic. The only thing that’s changed is who has the ability to do that. I do not see why this is such an issue.”

“This is actually the best thing that could have happened.” Katherine said, when they turned to look at her, she elaborated. “Carebear’s the most human vampire I’ve met. Even with her humanity off, she stayed relatively human until others tried to force it back on. If any of us wouldn’t abuse this power, its her. The whole ‘she can’t be killed thing’ means Klaus doesn’t have to worry about her dying and we don’t have to worry about what Klaus will do if she dies.”

The group stood awkwardly for a few seconds, all unsure of what more they needed to say. Klaus eventually sighed and went upstairs, hoping to fix things with Caroline. Walking into her room, he saw Bonnie and Lexi shooting him suspicious looks before turning back to look at Caroline. She was sitting on her bed with her eyes closed. One of her suitcases was floating in midair.

“Is this a bad time sweetheart?”

Caroline opened her eyes and the bag fell. “Oh man. I was actually levitating something until you distracted me.”

“Sorry love. I didn’t mean to break your concentration. I suppose you heard everything downstairs?”

Caroline looked down at the sheets before responding. “Nope. I was scared of what everyone was saying, so I performed whatever the opposite of a privacy spell is, it blocked out any noise from outside the room. What happened?”

“We still trust you. Indestructible being or not, you’re still Caroline Forbes.” Caroline smiled brightly and ran over to hug Klaus. “I’m also very sorry for what I said about your friends.”

“Uh…Caroline?” Bonnie said, interrupting their moment. “Look behind you.” The dried out bouquet of flowers Klaus gave her on their second date were suddenly alive and blooming. “I guess we can’t make fun of your brown thumb anymore.”

* * *

 

**Lucien’s Penthouse**

Alexis sat up from the couch and gasped. She had had another vision and knew she needed to consult Lucien. The vampire in question walked in the door right as she began to dial the phone.

“What did you see?” he asked, seeing the look on her face and knowing she’d just had a vision.

“Something has changed. Another variable has been introduced. It will either lead to our triumph or our downfall. Everything depends on what choice she makes.”

“She?”

“The woman. She holds fate of all in her hands.”

* * *

**DAVILLA ESTATE**

“What in the hell was that?” Aya asked, storming into the Sisters’ meeting room. The entire city had just experienced an earthquake and the Strix member guessed it wasn’t natural. The Sisters, save one, all looked at each other, not knowing what to say. They’d been unsuccessful in determining the cause of the quake.

“An awakening” Ariane said. “A great power has found its way back into this world. A force that could save us or damn us all has been awakened. After several thousand years locked away, it is here and it is free.”

“Can it be found?” the vampire asked.

“We will find it.” Madison said. “It shouldn’t take us more than a few days.”

“No, we won’t.” Ariane said. “Its not a thing that can be found. It is a gift that cannot be taken, only given. And she already has it.”

“She? It’s a woman?”

“Yes, she. It’s a bloodline and she alone remains. The last descendant of the Cursed One.“

“Then we will find her, whoever she is.” Madison said, getting annoyed with Ariane.

“Good. Get to work.” Aya said, giving Ariane a look and walking out.


	23. Chapter 23

Caroline and Bonnie sat tensely in the Abattoir two days later. Nora had called a few hours earlier when the Heretics crossed into Louisiana. Bonnie hoped they could get through the next few days without anybody dying. Caroline hoped everyone would get along and that there wouldn’t be another ‘incident’ on her part. Rebekah had left the day before looking for a way to bring Kol back. Thankfully, Katherine had convinced the others to go out to eat so the Heretics wouldn’t be overwhelmed with questions after a long car ride. Only Bonnie, Caroline and the twins remained behind. Soon, they heard a car pull up outside the compound and someone, most likely Enzo, let out a low whistle. Bonnie went outside to greet everyone. They entered the building and stood staring at one another, unsure of what to say.

“Thank you so much for helping us.” Valerie said. “I know we didn’t really have a right to ask this of you.”

“It’s fine.” Caroline said.

“No its not.” Mary Louise interjected. “We kidnapped you, we tortured you. I stabbed you in the stomach when you were pregnant. Yet, you still help us. Why?”

“Because you need it. When Enzo called me, I didn’t hear the coven that took me hostage; I heard three girls scared out of their minds. I decided a long time ago not to turn away people who need my help. I might still be mad at you, but I’m not that vindictive.”

Valerie looked at Caroline for a moment, and noticed something was off. “There’s something different about you. You’re not who you were six months ago, I can feel it.”

Caroline and Bonnie exchanged looks and then the blonde spoke. “Yeah, turns out I have magic now. It activated when I gave birth.”

“Speaking of which” Nora said to diffuse the tension, “how are they doing?”

“They’re doing well. They went to sleep about an hour ago, taking advantage of an empty house. Everyone else went out for food to give us privacy.”

“I have to say, it’s a nice house. Did you have to move to a city filled with Originals though?” Enzo asked.

“Why do you think we’re here? Bonnie needs their translation help, it’s the safest place for the twins and I have unfinished business with one of them.” Caroline said, crossing her arms. “And be nice. They are letting you stay in their home after all.”

“Of course gorgeous.” The group sat in the courtyard, making small talk when the others arrived.

“Are these our witchy guests?” Freya asked.

“Yes. You all know Nora; the blonde next to her is her fiancé Mary Louise. The other blonde is Valerie and that’s Enzo.” Bonnie said, pointing to each vampire in turn.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all and its good to see you again Miss Hildegard.” Elijah said. “I must warn all of you to step lightly. Witches in New Orleans are not fond of outsiders.”

Klaus then spoke up, still suspicious of the new arrivals. “I think we need to discuss why they’re here, brother. What exactly are you all running from?”

“Our sire’s sire has a death wish and we aren’t interested in. Look, mate, it’s a boring story.” Enzo said before turning to look at Caroline. “Goldilocks, come get a drink with your murder buddy.”

“I’m not your murder buddy and that was one time.” Caroline said, exasperated. “I’ll go, but if you kill anyone, I will end you.” The blonde walked out of the building, with the brunette man following after her.

Klaus watched them leave before walking over to Katherine. “Who exactly is Enzo?”

“Some old friend of Damon’s. He came to town right around the time I died.”

“And he and Caroline are close?”

“Oh my god. Are you jealous? This is hilarious!” Katherine exclaimed before noticing the look on the hybrid’s face. She then sobered a little. “I don’t know, I only saw him once before I died and they hadn’t even met yet. Go find Blondie and ask her.”

* * *

 

Caroline and Enzo walked into Rousseau’s still bickering. Luckily, Josh was working instead of Camille. They sat down at the bar and ordered. When Josh brought their drinks, Caroline decided to introduce the pair.

“Josh, this is my friend Enzo.”

“Hey” the young man said before leaning down to talk to Caroline. “He’s not gonna smash my face into stuff like Katherine, is he?”

“No mate. I’d just kill you.” The young vampire took a step back at his answer.

“What did I tell you?” the blonde said angrily. “No killing or threatening people during my drinking time.”

“Still a perky blonde angel of death, I see.”

"What's this? A new vampire to the quarter?"

"Go away Marcel. He's here to give you the rules. Don't cause trouble, don't kill locals and stay away from kids."

"Nice to see you too Caroline."

"What kind of sick fuck messes with kids?!"

"The dead kind. Why are you here?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but there was a family emergency." Marcel was about to respond when Caroline got annoyed and interrupted him. "Look, you literally couldn't pick a worse time to be doing this. Can we catch up in peace now?" Marcel stared for a few seconds before walking away.

"What's the story there? You clearly don't like him"

"Our first day in the city, Kat and I are here to get a drink. He corners and tries to intimidate us. She smashed his face into the bar. He then tried to corner us in the street, with similar outcomes. He only apologized because he's scared of Klaus."

"Ah yes. The big bad original hybrid. Well who wouldn't be scared of the ancient vampire you have wrapped around your little finger?"

"You'd be surprised. How is everyone back home?"

"Tyler's still trying to figure out what being a regular werewolf means, Matt’s trying to stop all the humans from dying. Stefan misses you guys and Damon keeps suggesting we kill Bonnie. "

"So exactly the same."

Enzo shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "How are you dealing with everything? I mean, between our situation and your new…abilities, a lot has changed recently love."

"I haven't really had time to process any of it. I just found out about my situation when you called me. It hasn’t hit me yet.”

"I know the feeling. One minute your sire is dying, the next her lover is trying to kill your sister. I may not always like them, but they don’t deserve to die.” After a few moments, Caroline got up to collect herself and Klaus walked in.

"I wondered when you were going to stop eavesdropping outside." Enzo said not looking up. "Let me guess, Klaus."

"Correct mate. "

"And you're here to tell me to stay away from goldilocks. No need mate. "

"Oh really?"

"We might both be well traveled, have charming accents and dodgy morals, but I’m not the one she's in love with. I thought that was fairly obvious."

"Then why take her out for a drink?"

"When Damon and Bonnie 'died' along with the Other Side, I was the only one besides Caroline trying to get them back or undo the barrier around Mystic Falls. I was the most stable person she had for a few months, is it that strange to want to be there for a friend?"

"Klaus? What are you doing here?" Caroline asked returning from the restroom.

"Just getting to know your new friend." Klaus said evasively.

"Yes, I was telling him about our little murder trip."

"I was just trying to save Stefan. You did all the actual killing." She said defensively.

"I'm sure Tom appreciates that distinction."

Klaus looked back and forth between the pair, trying to discern what was going on. "How does killing someone save Stefan?"

"Because Travellers are assholes."

After leaving Rousseau’s, Klaus, Enzo and Caroline found themselves wandering around the city. The latter two knew Klaus wanted more information about why the Heretics had arrived and Caroline wanted to avoid that conversation as long as possible. Eventually though, Caroline realized she needed to get home to her girls and dragged both men back to the compound.

They found Valerie and Freya in the middle of a staring contest when they entered. Nora and Mary Louise were standing to the side just watching. “Something wrong ladies?” Enzo asked.

“Yes. Your friend here, and her friends, won’t tell me why you’re here. Caroline made the situation seem life or death, but she,“ Freya said gesturing to Valerie, “doesn’t understand why any of us want to know exactly what you’re running from.”

“Valerie, you need to tell them.” Caroline said. “They agreed to let you stay, but they deserve to know.”

“No! Klaus probably only agreed to make you happy. Once they know why we’re here, he’s gonna throw us out.”

Caroline walked over to the other blonde and tried to calm her down. “If he throws you out, I have somewhere else you can stay. I meant what I said earlier. But if you won’t tell him, I will.”

Nora rolled her eyes and said, “Fine. I’ll do it. Could you run and grab his other siblings?” Caroline nodded and went upstairs. A few minutes later, everyone was standing in the courtyard. “Have any of you ever heard of Rayna Cruz?”

“Please tell me none of you have been marked by Rayna.” Klaus said. “I cannot allow the Supernatural Huntress loose in my city, where my family resides.”

“None of us have been marked.” Mary Louise said.

“Then why bring her up?”

“Because the Phoenix Sword is missing.”

“I’m a little rusty on the whole Rayna Cruz legend, but isn’t that a good thing?” Katherine asked.

“Not for us. Rayna’s biggest enemy is our sire’s sire Julian. He knows it’s missing and he’s trying to find it.”

“And you don’t want him too.”

“We all hate him. He kidnapped Mary Lou a few days ago and forced her to perform a locator spell. It almost killed her because-“

“The sword can’t be found.” Caroline interrupted. “The person who took it from Rayna found a way to hide it, make it impossible to locate using magic. Klaus, they’re here because they don’t want to die over Julian’s obsession. I want them to stay because I want Julian dead for reasons of my own.”

“How do you know the sword cannot be found, Miss Forbes?” Elijah asked.

“Because I know where it is.”


	24. Chapter 24

The witches of New Orleans were furious, again. Three days earlier, an earthquake shook the French Quarter and no one knew why. Some believed it to be the work of the Ancestors. That they were angry with Davina and the French Quarter coven. Others blamed Bonnie, saying a Bennett witch was too dangerous to reside in New Orleans. Either way, Davina was facing a livid Kara Nyugen once again.

“This is your fault!” Kara yelled at the Regent. “You let this happen! The Ancestors are angry with you, and they’re punishing the rest of us.”

“It wasn’t the Ancestors. I communed with them last night and the said nothing of the quake.”

“Then it was that Bennett witch! I knew she was trouble. We should have killed her when we had the chance. She’s trying to destroy us.”

“Actually, it wasn’t Bonnie or your stupid Ancestors, it was me.” Caroline said from behind her, leaning against a crypt. She then walked up to Kara Nguyen and stared the witch down. “And, by the way, if you ever threaten Bonnie again, I’ll do a lot worse than shove you into some gravestones.”

Suddenly, the graveyard began to shake and Caroline felt a pinprick of pain behind one eye. Kara laughed and said, “You shouldn’t threaten me or insult our Ancestors in their place of power.”

Caroline rolled her eyes and shouted, “Sò più forte di quellu. Ùn pruvate mica per mè. Purtate è vi distruggerete.*” The shaking stopped. “That’s what I thought. See, your Ancestors can’t really do anything to me.”

“Now that we’ve discovered the cause of the disturbance, you can leave, Kara.”

The witch left quickly, reeling from Caroline’s revelation and unwilling to start another fight. Soon, Davina, and Caroline were the only ones in the cemetery

“Why did you cause an earthquake? And what did you say to the Ancestors?”

“I didn’t mean to start the earthquake, it just kinda happened when I got really angry with Klaus. I told the Ancestors that testing me wasn’t a good idea, more or less.”

Davina was going to ask another question when Bonnie arrived. “Why did that witch Kara just walk by me and give me the stink eye?”

“Because she’s pissed at me and Davina. Did you bring that book you were talking about?”

Bonnie handed Caroline a very old-looking grimoire and sat anxiously as Caroline looked it over. Two minutes later, Caroline sighed and looked up. “Nope. This doesn’t have a Sleeping Curse reversal ritual. Sorry Bon.”

Bonnie groaned. “It was a long shot. I just…. its been nearly a year and I’m still at square one.”

“What are you talking about?” Davina asked.

“Our best friend, she’s in a magical coma until Bonnie dies. We’re looking for some loophole or something to reverse it.”

Davina noticed how sad both girls looked and wanted to help. “I can ask the Ancestors, if you want. Maybe they might have seen something like it?”

“Sure. I don’t know what good it will do. I mean, its not like the witch who cursed her is an Ancestor.”

“It’s better to try though, right?” Davina said. “Can I ask you something Caroline? I know this is gonna sound rude, but what exactly are you?”

“I’m…complicated. I’m a vampire; I’m also a witch. Explaining it would take forever, but Nature kind of needs me to be both. Suffice to say, I have a lot more power than I initially thought.”

Davina nodded, lost in thought. The girls then went into the Lycee to practice for a little while. After about an hour, Caroline heard a group of people approaching and told the others. Looking outside, Davina saw about two-dozen New Orleans witches standing outside the Lycee. She went outside to meet them.

“I wasn’t aware we had a meeting today.”

“As an Elder of the Ninth Ward coven, I called this meeting. There’s a few things we need to clear up.” Kara said.

“Such as?”

“Bonnie Bennett. She’s dangerous and yet you allow her to remain in the city.”

“If you want to throw her out, be my guest. She’s done nothing wrong, except defend herself. I cannot exile someone for that.”

“What about the other issues? Like your blonde friend in there.”

“What about her?”

“She hasn’t done anything Kara.” Vincent said.

“She started that earthquake three days ago, and she admitted it. What are you going to do about her?”

“Yes, she started the earthquake, but it was an accident.”

“We can’t punish her for a mistake.”

“The point is, she’s out of control.” Kara argued.

“She’s not a New Orleans witch. I have no authority over her.”

“She starts an earthquake, which could have killed people. She threatens members of our community and insults the Ancestors, and still you do nothing. ”

“What would you have me do?”

“Throw her out of this city. If you can’t or won’t, step aside so I can kill her.”

“That’s not going to work out very well. For any of you.” Bonnie said coming out of the building. “But hey, if you really want your entire coven to die, be my guest.”

“She can’t kill a whole coven.” One of the other Elders said.

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Bonnie said, thinking back to when Caroline killed Aja’s coven to save her.

“That also assumes her coven, which mostly consists of vampire-witch hybrids, don’t kill you first.” Valerie appeared and said.

“There’s no such thing as a vampire-witch hybrid.” Kara said arrogantly.

“Then what exactly do you call me?” Valerie said, showing her vampire face. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to Caroline.” Valerie then teleported away.

* * *

 

**INSIDE THE LYCEE**

Caroline sat on the second floor of the Lycee trying not to eavesdrop on the meeting outside. Kara had picked the wrong day to try and stage a coup against Davina. The blonde was happy the Regent was holding her own, but felt bad that she was the cause of so much drama in the witch community. The blonde was also happy to hear both Davina and Vincent defending her. They hadn’t known her for long and she appreciated having more than one person stand up for her.

When the meeting devolved into Kara threatening her life, Caroline tuned out. The witches couldn’t actually kill her and the Ancestors hopefully knew better than to attempt something at the moment. Caroline snapped out of her reverie when Valerie popped up in front of her.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, for one, I may have just exposed the Heretics as vampire-witch hybrids to everyone outside.” Valerie said. “But that wasn’t why I came.”

“Then what is?”

“We voted. We’ve decided that you should be the leader of our coven.”

Caroline was speechless. “Why? I’m not really a Heretic, and you barely know me.”

“Well, you need a coven and we need a leader, since Lily staked herself.” Caroline gave Valerie a look and the Heretic continued. “We also may have overheard you and Bonnie discussing how you got your magic last night. It’s hard to argue against having you lead us, since you’re the most powerful being in existence. “

“I get it, I’m powerful and now you want that power.”

“It’s not about want. It’s about what’s best for us all. We’re talking about eight or nine of the planet’s most powerful witches in one coven.”

“Eight or nine? Who are the other five?”

“Well, Freya told me she wished she had a coven. There’s also Hope and your daughters and Bonnie, if she wants. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about it.” Valerie said nervously. “Witches do better in covens; there’s strength in numbers.”

“I’ll think about it. Ok?”

* * *

 

**The Abattoir**

“So your…old friend Aya shows up in New Orleans and abducts Marcel, only for Tristan to stop you from killing her?” Klaus asked Elijah. “And you don’t think that is suspicious?”

“I find it to be an incredible coincidence, Niklaus. Especially given that the Strix came as well, so shortly after Jeremy Gilbert’s departure and Lucien’s arrival. They did, unwillingly, give me an opportunity to see what they are up to.”

Klaus smirked at this news. “Oh really? Do tell brother.”

“The Strix is holding a gala tomorrow evening. I believe they wish to get a measure of Marcellus. As their sire, I, of course, was invited.”

“I don’t suppose I could crash that party.”

“A distraction might prove useful should the need arise.” Elijah said cryptically. “I do wish to request a favor though.”

“And what favor is that?”

“Hayley agreed to be my date to the Strix gala. Katerina and I agreed that a hybrid might be useful should things escalate. I would appreciate Caroline’s assistance as well.”

Klaus stood up in anger. “Absolutely not. They could kill her.”

“She is immortal Niklaus, and, given her connection to Silas, able to get inside people’s heads, including Tristan’s and Aya’s. I know how you care for her, and I will not let anything happen to Miss Forbes. Besides, they won’t see her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *=I'm stronger than you. Do not test me. I can and will destroy you.
> 
> I decided Bonnie and Caroline deserved to have a coven, so I made one.


	25. Chapter 25

Sometimes, Caroline hated being such a nice person. When Camille caught wind of Marcel’s invitation to the super-secret vampire club, she was understandably worried. The pair had just rekindled whatever they were and Cami didn’t want her boyfriend to die. The blonde bartender had approached Caroline shortly after Nora and the other arrived and asked Caroline for a fresh start. Their friendship was new, but over the last few days, the two blondes had gotten rather close. Even if she hadn’t already agreed to spy on the Strix gala for Elijah, she would have found a way to keep watch over Marcel.

Caroline had spent the last hour standing in the corner of the Strix gala. It was the easiest place to avoid someone running into ‘nothing’ and being invisible had its perks. No one questioned a seemingly empty chair sitting in a corner. In addition, she found the minds of the partygoers surprisingly easy to enter. She could sense something big was going to happen and, if Marcel knew what she could do, she would have warned him.

When she saw Aya approach a vampire and hand him a ring, she knew it was almost show time. Closing her eyes and focusing, she found Klaus’s mind outside and told him a distraction might be useful. She almost laughed out loud when Klaus mentally jumped at the intrusion, but complied.

Tristan began pontificating about the initiation into the Strix and Marcel walked across the room to confront Aya. When she told him she didn’t have his daylight ring, he began to panic. Marcel caught Hayley’s eye just as an ancient party-crasher came waltzing in, with about three bimbos in tow.

“What a beloved occasion!”

“Oh my god, it’s a room full of Elijah’s.” Lucien said drunkenly.

“I had that same nightmare once.” The rest of the group laughed.

“Go on and grab us a drink love.”

“And one for me please! And one for her and her and her…” the hybrid slurred. “Tristan? Tristan! Come out; come out, wherever you are! Unless of course, you’re afraid!”

Caroline watched in amusement as Tristan began to get unnerved. He turned to Hayley and made an excuse to confront Klaus.

“You should…move along. You’re not welcome here.”

“Oh…. we’re not welcome here. I guess we should leave before I make Lord Gutless Arselicker cry in front of all his little friends. “

Elijah stepped in. “Niklaus.”

“What is it?”

“You’re hammered. Which should come as a surprise to no one, but it does hamper the festivities somewhat. So, could I recommend that you find the nearest exit? And could you take your playthings with you?”

Klaus grabbed a drink from the nearest vampire and downed it. “You know, I used to be insulted that I was barred from your special little club. But now, I realized I lack the flexibility to become a member. I could never get my head that far up my own ass!” Klaus and his entourage burst out laughing. “Come on, this party is dead anyway.”

* * *

 

Hours later, Marcel was recovering from Hayley’s bite and the others were discussing the events of the evening.

“So I’m a member of the Strix. Now what?” Marcel asked.

“For now, nothing. Observe what you can for as long as you can. The goal for tonight wasn’t to get you initiated. That was a useful side effect.”

“If I wasn’t supposed to join, what was the plan?”

“We needed someone to get into their heads. Having every member in the same room was too good an opportunity to pass up.” Klaus admitted.

“Who? Everyone I saw there was an ancient vampire.”

“Illusion spells are rather useful, aren’t they?” Caroline said from behind Klaus before making herself known. “Someone spent the entire gala digging through people’s heads and no one was the wiser. I must say, excellent sibling drama you two.” She pointed between Elijah and Klaus. “I couldn’t have scripted a better fight.”

“Enough patting yourself on the back, what did you learn?”

“Well, for starters, Lucien and Tristan are working together. I think we can assume they are more interested in trapping both of you than killing one of you. They’re looking for something, the Serratura, to keep you trapped forever. Lucien stole it from Camille. Aya wanted to immobilize Rebekah in order to lure you two somewhere. She found a way to incapacitate Rebekah, but it seems someone else has her.”

“So Rebekah is daggered or something somewhere?” Freya asked, concerned that she hadn’t been able to find her sister in the last few days.

Elijah realized what most likely happened. “Well if Tristan doesn’t have her, and Lucien doesn’t have her, that leaves one person. The person most invested in Rebekah’s survival.”

“Aurora.” Klaus spat out. “I think a dinner party is in order, brother.”

“Dinner party? Count me in.” Katherine said walking into the room. “I love the death and destruction that goes along with a Mikaelson party.”

“We’re trying to find where Rebekah is, Katerina. Not butcher a whole village.”

“Either way, I’ll be there. And so will Blondie and her freaky super coven. All you need to do is seduce your crazy ex-girlfriend.”

“What? Why?” Caroline asked, visibly upset.

“I ran into Aurora once. She has an unhealthy obsession with lover boy over there and a maniacal rage for anyone she sees as a threat for his affection. He doesn’t actually have to sleep with her, just flirt. Then I drop your name and she’ll go crazy, well crazier.”

* * *

 Two days later, the Mikaelson brothers stood in the courtyard of the Abattoir awaiting the arrival of their guests. Katherine was waiting to make an entrance; Caroline and the Heretics were waiting, hidden, for the show to start and Enzo was upstairs keeping Freya informed of what was happening below.

Tristan and Lucien arrived minutes apart and stood somewhat anxiously as they awaited Aurora’s arrival.

“Sorry I’m late. I wanted to look pretty.” Aurora said walking in.

“Aurora, you look-“ Lucien began to say.

“You look absolutely ravishing.” Klaus said, interrupting him.

“So, this was your first love, Klaus.” Katherine said walking down the stairs. “I must say, I think you and Caroline make a much better couple. Sorry, we haven’t met. I’m Katherine Pierce.”

“Katerina, let’s not start a fight before dinner even begins.” Elijah said, walking up to take her arm and gesturing for the others to follow.

Dinner was incredibly awkward. Between Aurora’s desperate flirting and the Originals’ thinly veiled threats, Katherine almost drank herself into alcohol poisoning. As dinner ended, the real interrogation began.

“Tell me where my sister is.” Elijah demanded.

“Why would I do that? I cannot trust you to keep Rebekah safe, nor can she be left on her own, but I can ensure her safety.”

“Until you have another episode.” Tristan muttered under his breath.

“Even if I did, brother, I couldn’t kill Rebekah. She’s perfectly safe. At the bottom of the ocean.”

“You’re bluffing. Tell me you’re bluffing.”

“I’m afraid not, Nik. She’s almost died several times under your watch. And those two,” Aurora pointed to Tristan and Lucien, “are far too obsessed with discovering some mystery woman.”

“What mystery woman?” Katherine asked, trying to fuel the fire.

“My seer Alexis she had a vision, that some woman holds the fate of our kind in her hands.”

“And a few witches I know felt something awaken.” Tristan was reluctant to remind Elijah of the existence of the Sisters.

Katherine, Elijah and Klaus all exchanged looks, which Aurora interpreted as curiosity. She wanted to nip the idea in the bud. “My point is I’m the only one who is actually dedicated to making sure Rebekah survives.”

Katherine gave Aurora an unamused look before turning to Klaus. “I never thought I’d say this, but your taste in women has really improved. “

“Passing flings may come and go, but Nik will always love me.” Aurora said.

Katherine snorted and the spoke. “Oh, the fact that you think that would be funny, if it wasn’t so sad and pathetic. He loved you, as in past tense sweetie. He loves, present tense, Caroline now. Sorry to smash your dreams, Amelia.”

Aurora stood up as if she as about to attack Katherine. “It’s Aurora. And that’s the second time I’ve heard that name. Who is she?”

“Me.” Caroline said appearing in one of the vacant chairs. She raised her arm and forced the three guests to sit back down. She then turned to Klaus. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to stick your dick in crazy?”

“I’m sorry, love. If it helps, I haven’t felt anything for her in centuries.”

“Why are you apologizing to this infant witch? And what do you mean?”

“It means he doesn’t love you anymore, genius.” Caroline retorted. “And he’s apologizing because he knows I can do this.” The blonde closed her fist and twisted it. A second later, Tristan began screaming.

“What did you do to my brother?”

“Turned his blood into acid. “ Caroline then dropped her hand and Tristan returned to normal. “You can see why pissing me off isn’t a good idea.”

“Enough chit-chat sweetheart. Did you find what you need?”

“Oh I did more than that.” Caroline said, “which you’ll see in three, two one.” Caroline pointed at the door and a vampire walked in.

“Anton? What are you doing here?” Lucien asked.

“I…I don’t know.”

“Let me guess, you felt the sudden, inescapable need to come to this building.” Katherine said. “Which means whoever you were guarding is now free. Nice going Blondie.”

“Oh, and one more thing.” Caroline held her hands out and muttered. A moment later, a medallion appeared in her hands. She held it out to Klaus. “I believe you were looking for this.”

Klaus took it from her and smirked at the trio. Aurora wanted to wipe that grin off his face so she decided to taunt him. “You may have that, but you don’t have Rebekah.”

“But someone else knows where she is. Someone I trust.”

“What are you talking about? I have the latitude and Tristan has the longitude.”

Klaus took a threatening step towards Aurora. “Are you certain? Are you absolutely sure about that?”

Caroline didn’t want Klaus to expose the full extent of her powers to the trio and intervened. “Klaus, could I talk to these three for a moment? Alone.” The hybrid gave her a questioning look but complied. Soon Caroline was on the receiving end of harsh glares from the trio.

“Are you going to say anything, love? Or just waste more time?” Lucien said trying to bait her.

“What makes you think I’m wasting it?” Caroline said before turning to Aurora. “Besides, none of you is going to remember anything from the time I arrived.”

Aurora began laughing. “We lost a century to compulsion. Do you really believe we would let ourselves be compelled by the Mikaelsons again?”

The blonde smiled. “I didn’t say anything about compelling you.” She waved her hand and knocked the two men out. Turning to Aurora, she out her hands on the woman’s temple and concentrated. Aurora twitched a few times and began breathing heavily. When Caroline let go, she threw Aurora from the building. She repeated the same process with Lucien, this time leaving enough information for him to be wary of her. Finally, she approached Tristan, who had just begun to wake.

“Where is my sister?”

“I kicked her out. Don’t worry, she’s relatively fine.” Caroline moved to stand behind him. “She will remember none of what just happened. Lucien will remember bits and pieces but nothing too useful. As far as he knows, he came here with the Serratura and gave it to Klaus willingly. You, on the other hand, get to remember the most of this encounter. Although it won’t be much or be very pleasant.”

“Why?”

“Because, I want you to remember what I did to you when your sister pissed me off. I want the knowledge that I didn’t even break a sweat doing it to stay with you after you leave. I want the Strix to know what I’m capable of. I want them to know that I want them to know. I want you to be more afraid of angering me than any other thing on this planet.”

Caroline waited for Tristan to run away before scribbling something down on a piece of paper. She went into the kitchen and found Elijah and Katherine watching Klaus pace. Without preamble, she handed the paper to Elijah.

“You got the information?” Klaus said.

“Yes. Funny thing about people, if you tell them not to think of a certain thing, the first thing they think of is that thing. Rebekah was dumped at this latitude and longitude.“ Caroline then turned to Elijah. “Before you dig her up and undagger her, you need to know something. The stake Aya used is hexed. If you pull it out, Rebekah will go mad and become a Ripper.”


	26. Chapter 26

“Have you decided what you want to do about Julian?” Caroline asked Valerie a week after the dinner party from Hell. The coven was starting to develop. Bonnie agreed to join and other than a few Caroline Forbes bonding-sessions, nothing else had happened.

“What do you mean?”

“He almost killed your sister. He’s the reason Lily died. He’s probably hunting you three right now, and on top of everything else, he killed your child. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to make him suffer.”

“I do want him to suffer. I just…I don’t want to become him. Unable to let the past go.”

“You won’t. I mean, you let go of your hatred towards me.” Caroline reassured her. “Besides, there’s no harm in daydreaming about making him pay. If you had free reign over his punishment and or death, what would you do?” Caroline knew first hand how cathartic plotting someone’s death could be, whether you follow through or not.

Mary Louise walked into the room as Caroline spoke and suggested something. “First, I’d make sure he was completely alone. No army, no friends to watch him die. He claims he doesn’t want to be alone, but look at how he treats his so-called family.”

“Would you kill his army or just separate them?”

“Either one. Killing them sporadically would add to his paranoia which he deserves.”

“Who are we trying to make paranoid?” Nora said as she entered the room with Freya.

“Julian. We’re debating the best way to kill him. It’s surprisingly freeing.”

“I want to play. First, I’d kill off his little army. I wouldn’t stake them or rip their hearts out, that would be too easy to defend against. I’d use something obscure or something that doesn’t have a cure, like werewolf venom. I wouldn’t kill them all at once, either. I’d kill one vampire, then two more and so on. Eventually, I want him to be so desperate to save his ‘friends’ that he’d have to seek help from someone who hates him, like me. Then I’d laugh as I watch him die.”

“Wow. You are very intense when it come to plotting revenge.” Caroline said to Nora. “Like, you’ve clearly put a great deal of thought in this.”

“Plotting people’s demise relaxes me.”

One of the others was about to respond when Enzo came storming into the room. “Why aren’t you answering your phone gorgeous?”

“Kinda in the middle of something.” Caroline said, gesturing to the various grimoires spread out around her. With no immediate threat, Caroline had spent the last few days looking for a way to help bring Kol back. “What do you want?”

“Tyler is apparently looking for you. He’s so anxious to find you, that he called me. I’m not getting pulled into more relationship drama.”

Caroline dropped the book in her hands and yelled. “Oh shit. I totally forgot.” She rushed to put all the books away before turning to Valerie. “Do me a favor. If anyone other than Bonnie asks where I am, lie.”

As she left the room, Valerie called after her. “What do I tell Bonnie?”

Caroline vampire-sped out of the house and into her car, dialing as she went. “Hey, where are you?”

“Just passed the Louisiana state line. Where do I go?”

“Take the highway to Eden Isle. I’ll text you the address. No one followed you, right?”

* * *

 

**SEVERAL DAYS EARLIER-MYSTIC FALLS**

_From Chapter 20: As Matt got back to his house, he began to worry about how desperate Damon had become. He dialed a familiar number and as soon as they picked up, he said, “We have a problem.“_

“We have a problem.” Matt said into the phone. Tyler sighed on the other end. “Damon’s becoming more…annoyed with the lack of progress.”

“Ok, and?”

“When we agreed to keep Elena safe, that included-“

“Keeping her safe from him if need be. What do we do?”

“We’re gonna have to move her. He’s about two days away from tracking Bonnie down and forcing her to wake Elena up. He won’t do that if he can’t find her.”

“Ok, but where can I take her where he won’t follow?” Tyler asked resigned.

Matt thought for a second before an idea came to him. “Call Caroline.”

“What? No. She’s a single mom now. She’s got enough going on as is. We have no idea where she is anyway.”

“I can’t tell you why or where she is, but Caroline can hide Elena. Please man, just trust me.”

Tyler felt a strange need to listen to Matt, so he hung up and called Caroline. All he told her was that Elena’s body couldn’t stay in New York and Matt suggested her. Caroline seemed weirdly calm about the situation and convinced Tyler to bring Elena south, only telling him to call when he reached Louisiana. In an attempt to buy time and shake any tails he had, Tyler drove all the way to Oregon before heading in the right direction.

* * *

 

**Present**

Caroline sat on the hood of her car, anxiously biting her nails. She’d reached her ‘secret base’ in under an hour, meaning she had an hour or more of waiting before Tyler arrived. After what felt like days, Tyler pulled up in a moving van. He went to the back of the vehicle and removed Elena’s coffin.

“Is there a reason we’re parked in an empty field?”

“It’s not empty.” Caroline replied and Tyler looked confused. “I borrowed a trick or two from the Gemini coven. The house is cloaked from everyone except me.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story and the less you know, the better.”

“Ok.” Tyler said skeptical. He watched as Caroline grabbed the coffin and disappeared into thin air. A minute later, the blonde reappeared. “I guess that’s it then.”

“I guess. Take care of yourself Tyler.”

* * *

 

When Caroline returned to the compound, she felt slightly more at ease. Elena was now safe and she could focus on the other three problems she was dealing with. Her musing was cut off when Bonnie came running down the stairs.

“Caroline! Guess what?”

“You drank way too much coffee this morning?”

“No. Well, yes, but that’s not why I’m this excited. Elijah translated the spell.”

“He did? That’s awesome! Wait, when did you even show it to him?”

“The day before the Strix gala. In all of the ‘let’s deal with our psycho children’ drama I forgot to tell you. “

“Does he know what it does?”

“I don’t think so.” Bonnie said unsure. “The point is, we can bring him back now!”

Caroline and Bonnie’s excitement was interrupted by the arrival of the Mikaelsons, sans Freya. “Miss Bennett, I believe in being honest and straightforward so I’m just going to ask. What are you doing with an ancient resurrection spell and how do you plan to use it?”

“I got it from Qetsiyah, and I was thinking of using it.”

“Qetsiyah created a resurrection spell?” Rebekah asked.

“Yeah, it was her warm-up for the Immortality Spell. She planned for every outcome except Silas leaving her.” Bonnie said shrugging.

**_“Or that Norse bitch perverting my masterpiece.” Qetsiyah said glaring at the family._ **

“Who are you resurrecting?” Klaus asked paranoid. “Let me guess, our mother perhaps?”

“If I wanted to bring Esther back, why would I come to you for help? Even if I succeeded, you’d try to kill me as soon as I was done. Don’t forget, your mother is the reason my mother died. Whether I use it or not, and who I use it for has nothing to do with you.”

Klaus decided on a different approach. “Caroline, did you know about this?”

“I did.”

“Do you know who she wants to bring back?”

“I do, but I’m not gonna tell you. Sorry, its part of the friend code.”

“So you’re just going to let your witchy friend bring anyone back she wants?”

“She only wants one person resurrected. After everything she’s been through, she gets a pass.” Klaus got truly angry with Caroline of the first time in a long time. He was about to make a scathing or threatening comment when Caroline spoke again. “Why are you so sure Bonnie is trying to bring back an enemy? She’s done nothing than help your family since we got here.”

Both women walked off, knowing further discussion with the Originals would lead to massive aneurisms or another earthquake depending on which witch got angry first. Caroline called the other coven members for a meeting on the way out.

On the way to the Lycee, a thought occurred to Caroline. “I know Tessa was powerful and all. And you’re super powerful and I’m super powerful, and Elijah probably translated correctly but I think we should do a test run.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like a clinical trial or something. you know, we test the spell out before we use it on Kol. That way if there are issues, we don’t waste our chance to help him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Kol might actually be coming back soon. yay!


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The coven has a chat, updates from Mystic Falls, and the Strix plots

**The Lycee**

As the girls reached the Lycee, Bonnie and Caroline walked in on Valerie trying to comfort Freya.

“We’ll figure this mess out,” the Heretic said.

“I just… I know it won’t kill her, but she doesn’t deserve this.”

Bonnie and Caroline shared a look before making their presence known. “Everything ok?” Bonnie asked.

“Yeah, we’re just…worried about Rebekah. She had another ‘episode’ earlier when you disappeared. My sister isn’t a saint, but-“

“She’s still your sister.” Caroline finished for Freya. “Do you know anything about the stake they used? All I got from Tristan’s mind was that it would make her a Ripper.”

“It’s a hex of some kind. So far white muskroot, a silver knife and a spell have temporarily stopped the curse. Klaus and Elijah are debating daggering her until we can find a better solution.”

“Have I mentioned how much I hate the Strix? I really do. Someone remind me of that the next time I see one of those three psychos.” Caroline said.

“Are you absolutely sure it’s a hex?” Valerie said sounding strangely excited.

“Yeah. At least, it has all the hallmarks of a hex. Delayed effects, slowly driving Rebekah into Ripper-mode, can’t be undone using a simple reversal spell.” Freya said. “Why?”

“Did you forget that three of us are siphoners?” Valerie said. By the looks on Caroline, Bonnie and Freya’s faces, they had. “Hexes are still magic. Hell, with any luck, we can fix Rebekah today.”

Caroline was about to say something when Nora and Mary Louise arrived. “What’s the big emergency?” Mary Lou asked. “Does it have to do with why you rushed out of here earlier?”

Caroline and Bonnie shared a look before the Bennett witch began speaking. “Did Care and I ever tell you why we came to New Orleans?”

“To keep the twins safe from Rayna.” Valerie answered.

“I thought it was because Hayley’s pack got cursed.” Nora said confused.

“I kind of hated both of you, so I didn’t really care where you went or why.” Mary Louise stated.

“Keeping the girls safe was my reason for coming. Bonnie’s was a little more complicated.”

“The spell right?” Freya said finally speaking. “I remember you saying something about a spell the day I met both of you.”

Bonnie nodded. “Yeah, I found a spell of Qetsiyah’s. I came to New Orleans so Damon would stop breathing down my neck, but mostly I wanted to perform the spell. The problem is, the spell was written in Aramaic, and I only know two people who can translate it. Your brothers.” the witch paused before continuing. “This morning, Elijah finished translating it. Now, both are mad at me.”

“Why? What does it do?”

“It’s a resurrection spell.” Caroline answered for her. “Your brothers are paranoid and think Bonnie wants to use the spell to resurrect Esther. Or someone worse.”

“Do you?” Freya asked.

“Of course not. Esther tried to kill a baby; she almost got a lot of people I care about killed. My mother got killed because of her. I think, excluding your family, I’m the last person who wants her back.” Bonnie answered.

“Then who are you bringing back?” Nora asked.

“The love of my life.” Bonnie stated.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

Damon paced the foyer of the boardinghouse. Something felt…off. Jeremy seemed to be hiding something when the older Salvatore spoke to him and no one had heard from Bonnie thus far.

The Heretics and Enzo had also mysteriously disappeared in the middle of the night, which didn’t bode well for anyone. Damon didn’t know, or care, if they were running from Rayna or Julian, but either way, he and Stefan were now stuck friendless dealing with either.

Taking a deep breath, Damon made a decision. This was the perfect time for a little vacation, and he really needed to see Elena.

* * *

 

**Davilla Estate**

“Updates?” Tristan asked the other Strix members as they began their meeting.

“Rebekah Mikaelson has been found and her brothers took the stake out. So far, she hasn’t gone on a rampage. Yet.”

“So it’s a question of if rather than when. Any progress on the human who stole the Orb?”

“None. The Sisters have failed in their attempts to locate the Orb. They believe it is being cloaked by something.”

“The human we’ve lost track of as well. Matthias tracked him into New Orleans, but he was found dead in Lafayette Cemetery shortly after.”

“Is it possible this human is a hunter?”

“It’s possible. He could just have friends in the right places. “

“Fine. Have the Sisters sensed anything else…different?”

“They have not found the being who caused the earthquake, yet one has stated that a handful of people in the city are aware of what truly occurred.”

“When trying to find who or what it was, Madison sensed the arrival of three very powerful witches, witches who, according to her, bend the rules of Nature.” Aya added. “None of them have elaborated on that statement.”

“Tell them to focus on the earthquake, not the new witches. Have we figured out how to get the Serratura back?”

“Not yet. I doubt Klaus will just give something as useful as that back to me just because I ask.” Lucien said sounding annoyed.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have given it to him in the first place, then.” Tristan retorted. He then turned to a woman at the end of the table. “Speaking of Klaus, anything important you’ve observed?”

“He has a few house guests. Most seem to be ordinary vampires with a witch or two coming and going. Spells probably performed by his sister make eavesdropping hard. There has been one blonde woman whose visited the compound frequently. She’s also been seen with Hayley Marshall-Kenner and a few of the New Orleans witches.”

“Is she a witch?”

“I do not know. I was unsure if I should shadow her or not. All I know at the moment is that her name is Caroline.”

Marcel shifted slightly at her mention, but luckily another person’s reaction caught the attention of everyone. Tristan paled considerably and tensed.

“Caroline you said?” the woman nodded. “Has she seen you?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Is there something you would like to share?” Lucien asked arrogantly.

“I met her a few months ago. Caroline is not someone you want to trifle with.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I’m wary of anyone who played a part in the deaths of not one, but two, Mikaelson siblings.”

“Wait, she’s involved in Finn and Kol’s deaths? And she’s here now?”

“Yes, to both questions. Until we know what she wants with the remaining three, step lightly.”

“Or maybe, she wants the same thing we do. Why don’t we stay out of her way and hope she stays out of ours.”

* * *

 

**The Lycee**

“That’s why soil was on that ingredient list.” Nora said, finally having an answer to that mystery. Caroline and Bonnie both nodded.

“Who are you trying to bring back though?” Valerie asked.

“No one you know.”         Bonnie answered being vague on purpose. Valerie had never met him, but others in the room have. “We’re not bringing anyone back just yet. I need to test the spell first.”

“There’s also the ingredient issue.” Caroline added.

“If we can’t perform it yet, why are you telling us about it?”

“We didn’t want you to be blindsided if Klaus, Elijah or Rebekah asked.”


	28. Chapter 28

Caroline, Bonnie, Freya and Valerie stormed into the compound. Nora and Mary Louise had already made plans for Nora’s 172th birthday the next day, so the fiancés left for some alone time after Bonnie and Caroline had come clean.

“REBEKAH!” Freya yelled excitedly when the foursome entered the building.

”What’s with all the shouting?” Klaus said coming out of his studio.

“Where’s Rebekah?” Freya asked

“Our sister is recovering from her…relapse earlier. What is this about?” Elijah answered walking in with Katherine trailing behind him.

“We figured out how to help Rebekah.” Caroline answered. “Could you go grab her?”

“That’s not necessary.” Valerie said before rushing upstairs. The others followed right behind her. the Mikaelsons were worried, Katherine was curious and Bonnie and Caroline were hopeful.

They heard a grunt come from one of the rooms and quickly rushed into it. Inside, they found Valerie standing over Rebekah, with the Heretics hand wrapped tightly around one of her arms.

“What are you doing to me?” Rebekah asked in pain.

“Fixing you.” Valerie grunted out.

Elijah and Klaus were about to intervene when Caroline jumped in front of them and held both brothers back. “Let her do this.” Both men nodded begrudgingly.

About a minute after entering the room, Valerie let go of Rebekah and sat down. “How do you feel?” she gasped out.

“Distinctly less homicidal. What did you do?”

“I siphoned the hex off of you. I may be a hybrid, but I’m still a siphoner.”

“Thanks.” Rebekah said sounding shockingly sincere.

“Well, now that that’s been dealt with, shall we celebrate?” Klaus suggested.

“Sorry Niklaus, Katerina and I have plans.”

“I kinda have a standing appointment I’m glad I don’t need to cancel.” Rebekah said rushing out of the house.

“Enzo, Lexi and I decided to going to see some film named The Godfather that Lexi is insisting we absolutely must see.” Valerie said.

“I’m staying in. the last few days have been a little too….action-packed.”

“I have…..some things to do.” Bonnie said evasively.

“I know I sound like an old lady, but I kinda want a night in with my babies tonight.” Caroline said.

“Would it be too bold to ask if Hope and I may join you?” Klaus asked Caroline. “I’m sure Hayley and Jackson would appreciate the chance for a date night.”

“Of course Hope can come. You too, I guess.” The blonde replied playfully.

* * *

 

**Katherine and Elijah**

Elijah drove Katherine to small Italian bistro in Baton Rogue. “What’s the occasion?” Katherine asked once the two vampires sat down.

“Two weeks ago marks the 522nd anniversary of the day we met.”

“I see. So we’re….celebrating our anniversary then. Even though we spent most of those 522 years apart.”

“Indeed. “

“And the calculating, ‘I’m going to interrogate you’ look on your face is what, a coincidence?”

“Apologies. I forgot how well you can read me Katerina.”

“Just ask the question so we can move on.” Katherine said a little annoyed.

“Do you know how Miss Bennett wishes to resurrect?”

“I do. I don’t know him, but I know who he is to her.”

“And who is he?”

“The love of her life, or so she claims. He died in the midst of all the drama your family brought to Mystic Falls, and now she wants him back.”

* * *

 

**Rebekah**

Rebekah reached her apartment just as the clock struck six pm. She sighed in relief and made her way over to her computer. She logged into Skype and waited.

“Hey.” She said to the person on the other end.

“Hey Rebekah.” Matt said with a small smile. “I thought you might be ditching me again.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I am sorry about the last two weeks though.” After Matt returned to Mystic Falls, he and Rebekah had begun having ‘Skype hangouts’ once a week to stay in touch. Neither blonde was ready to write the other out of their lives over what Lexi dubbed ‘the vampire elephant in the room’.

“What happened?”

“A vampire Elijah turned daggered me with a cursed stake. The first vampire I turned then dropped me into the ocean. My brothers found me, but I was a little Ripper-like for the last few days.”

“Are you ok though?” the quarterback asked concerned.

“Yeah. Thanks to Valerie’s siphoning abilities, I’m now curse-free.”

“Wait, Val’s down there? Are Nora and Mary Louise there too?” Rebekah nodded a little confused. “Sorry, the Heretics just disappeared and it kinda put everyone on edge. They though Rayna might have-“

“No, they’re running from someone called Julian.”

“Well, the guy is a dick. Other than being cursed and dumped in the ocean, how are you?”

* * *

 

**Freya**

Freya was happy she got to have a ‘Freya night’ for once. Over the last few months, the witch hadn’t had anytime to herself and it was starting to stress her out. constantly jumping from one crisis to another was nerve-wracking. The blonde elected to spend her first night alone in a while watching ‘rom coms’ as Caroline and Bonnie called them and ordering some food.

Freya was about to press play on a movie called ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ when she heard someone knock on the door. Running downstairs, she threw the door open and saw Lucien.

“I thought we could talk.”

“And I thought you were the pizza guy.” Freya moved to close the door.

“I’m afraid I have to insist.”

“You do know I can break your neck with my mind, right?”

 “It’s a little too early for foreplay, isn’t it?”

“What do you want?”

“A chance to clear the air. “

* * *

 

**Bonnie**

The first thing Bonnie did when she got to her room was lock the door and light some sage. She wanted, no needed, to talk to Kol and couldn’t risk Klaus or even Freya interrupting them.

**_“Hello Little Witch.”_ **

“Hey. I have news. Elijah finished translating the spell and I’m one step closer to getting you back.”

**_“And how does Elijah feel about knowing what youre doing?”_ **

“He’s angry because I wont tell him who the spell is for. He worked out what it was, went running to Klaus and now both, and Rebekah, are angry with me.”

**_“You didn’t tell them you’re bringing me back? Why?”_ **

“I’m worried they’ll try to stop me, even if it sounds stupid. They did stop your resurrection once already. I haven’t told anyone, except Care, who I’m bringing back.”

**_“That was a unique circumstance. “_ **

“They still did it. They still were willing to do it. Davina only wanted to help her friend, and they tricked her into helping them. They might be your family, but that doesn’t excuse everything.”

* * *

 

**Klaus and Caroline**

Josie, Lizzie and Hope were playing on the floor of Hope’s nursery while Caroline and Klaus watched over them. All three girls were entranced by their stuffed animals, until a high-pitched voice spoke.

“Where mama?”

Klaus and Caroline looked at one another before turning back to the trio of toddlers. “What?” Caroline said as a reflex.

“Where mama?” Hope said looking around with her big blue eyes.

“Mummy’s spending the evening with Jackson.” Klaus answered his daughter.

“Jack!” the toddler yelled happily.

“Yes, Jack. Do you know who this is?” Caroline said pointing to Klaus. The hybrid in question was looking equally sad and angry. He knew Hope was beginning to talk, but he felt a little left out. Even though he could hear Hope when she was across the street with Hayley, he was worried he'd continue to miss the little moments in her life. 

“Dada!” the little girl said making grabby hands at her father.

“Hello, my littlest wolf.” Klaus said picking the little girl up.

“Hi.” Hope said smiling at her father. She then squirmed a little so she could look at Caroline. “Pretty.” She said reaching towards Caroline.

“Yes you are, sweetie.” Caroline told the little girl making a funny face.

“Car pretty!” Hope shouted. “Hi Car!”

Caroline got a confused look on her face before something came to her. “Wait, is she- I mean, does she-“

“Little wolf, is that Car” Klaus said pointing to Caroline.

“Uh huh. Dada lah Car”

“Daddy loves Caroline?” Caroline asked and Hope nodded happily. “She knows who I am?”

“Of course she does, love. She see you almost daily.” Klaus said before turning back to his daughter. “Who are they?” he said pointing to Lizzie and Josie.

“Izy and Jo!” the youngest Mikaelson exclaimed.

“I didn’t know she was up to full sentences.”

“Me neither, love. “

“Dada, down.” Hope said and Klaus obliged.

“I….I can’t believe she’s already talking.”

“Me neither, love.” Klaus paused for a moment to look at Caroline. “You know, we never really discussed it. Raising our children together. Come to think of it, I never thought I’d utter the words ‘our children’.”

“I think we should just let what’s happening happen. Everything is working fine for now.”

“Except you’re hiding something from me. I may not be an expert at relationships, but even I know lies are unhealthy. You know who Bonnie wants to bring back and yet you won’t tell me.”

“Because its not my secret to tell, Klaus. Contrary to what you may think, this is completely about Bonnie. Her life, her decisions and what she wants. The last time Bonnie did something solely for herself, I was still human.”

“If it’s all about the Bennett witch as you say, why can’t you tell me who she wants back?”

“You want to know, fine! Bonnie lost the love of her life during the year-long saga that happened between the hybrid ritual and graduation. We were all so busy with your mother, and Silas and the cure that none of us ever got to meet him. So she doesn’t want your mom back, or Mikael or Dahlia or whoever else you’re paranoid about, she just wants him. It’s the only reason she came here.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Settle in, because this is a LONG chapter and a lot happens

A few days later, things were still tense in the Abattoir. The Original vampires wanted the name of who Bonnie wanted back, the trio from Mystic Falls had no reason or desire to reveal said name, and Freya was unfortunately stuck in the middle.

The day after Valerie healed Rebekah, Bonnie and Caroline successfully brought a handful of insects back from the dead. The next day, they managed to resurrect a field mouse and a blackbird they found injured near Lafayette Cemetery. Today, however, was the big test. Caroline and Bonnie were going to resurrect a human being, hopefully.

“Where are we going again?” Bonnie said as Caroline drove out of New Orleans.

“I bought a house. Before all this Strix drama happened, I realized I might need a place to practice magic without Originals or the Ancestors catching on.”

“Like performing a resurrection.”

“Exactly. You’re the first person who’s seen it.”

“I’m honored, I guess.”

“It also helps that we don’t need to find a test subject this way.”

“What?”

“I compelled someone at the county sheriff’s office to notify me if anyone died. About an hour ago, a sixty-year-old man who’s lived just outside of town his whole life died of a heart attack. Seems like a good test subject.”

“Ok, but he’s human. Kol wasn’t.”

“I know. If this works, the next step in a run-of-the-mill vampire. If that works, we resurrect Kol.”

The resurrection went off without a hitch. Albert Thomson was understandably freaked out when he woke up in the county morgue, but with a little compulsion, he soon calmed down and all records of his death were destroyed.

 

The next step to bring Kol back was a little trickier. Resurrecting Kol required both a spell to recreate his body and one to return his soul to it. Returning a deceased vampire’s soul was easy; recreating their body was not. Extra steps were needed, even for a non-Original.

Bonnie and Caroline couldn’t decide on which dead vampire to bring back. Bonnie claimed that it didn’t matter, if the test subject turned out to be a problem, they could just kill them. Caroline was a little more concerned. They needed to bring the right vampire back. If a fallen Strix, or one of Klaus’ nine billion enemies was brought back, not only would it cause the girls personal problems, but also their cover would be blown.

“It shouldn’t matter.” Bonnie said for the hundredth time. “There are plenty of dead vampires who’d volunteer to be a guinea pig.”

“Yeah, but not all of them have the best reasoning. We don’t know where they ended up, we don’t know how they died, and it’s a risk we can’t take blindly.”

“So what do you suggest then?”

“Anna or Vicki or any other dead vampire we actually know. The mystery factor goes away and they’ll be less likely to rat us out.”

“What are you two arguing about?” Katherine said from the doorway.

“Nothing.”

“She already knows everything, Bon. We’re debating something. Before we bring you-know-who back, we need to bring back a non-Original vampire to make sure the spell works on vampires.”

“And you can’t decide who?” Both women nodded. “That’s easy. Nadia. She hasn’t been dead much longer than Kol, we know she’s not from his bloodline unlike some of the vampires who died before him. Plus, I want to get to know my daughter without her death or my own hanging over our heads. To be fair, I was going to blackmail you into doing it anyway. This just saves time.”

“Makes sense.” Bonnie said after a few moments. “Katherine does know where she was born and we wouldn’t need to track down, and turn, a relative.”

“Fantastic. What do you need?” Katherine asked.

“Her remains, which I can get Matt to tell me the location of, some of your blood, soil from her birthplace. The rest we already have.“

“Fine, I’ll tell Elijah I need to do some soul searching in Bulgaria.” Katherine said shrugging.

“There’s something else we need.” Caroline said reluctantly. “I need you to steal Elijah’s blood.”

“Why?”

“To recreate Kol’s body or Nadia’s or any other dead vampire, we need the blood of a relative that’s the same species. That rules Klaus and Freya out, Rebekah is harder for any of us to get close to.”

“Which leaves Elijah.” Katherine finished. “Fine.“ The doppelganger walked off.

“What about Kol’s remains?” Bonnie asked. “Davina almost brought him back, but then Rebekah and Elijah interfered. No one knows what happened to them.”

“No, Rebekah has them. She took them with her when she went searching for a way to bring him back.” Caroline said confidently. “I might have jumped the gun and read her mind before she left the first time.”

* * *

 

**Upstate New York**

Damon ran his hand through his hair. He drove all the way to New York to see Elena, only to find no trace of her anywhere. There was also no trace of Tyler Lockwood and the mutt wasn’t answering his phone.

“Tyler, its me. You have ten minutes to return my call and tell me where my damn girlfriend is before I start hunting you down. The longer you wait, the more painful your death will be.”

Damn it, how was he going to explain this anyone.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

Julian was getting annoyed. His heretic army had run off and deserted him. Apparently, years of supporting them and helping them dodge their ex-coven meant nothing after one little ‘I almost killed one of you’ incident. At first, he saw their disappearance as a little act of rebellion. They were teenagers after all, but it had been over a month. And Rayna was still a threat. And the other witches he ‘persuaded’ to help him weren’t as powerful as the remaining Heretics. His new witches couldn’t even tell him what state the three runaways were hiding in.

* * *

 

**New Orleans-A few days after Caroline & Bonnie’s argument**

“Ok. Explain this to me again.” Nadia said looking around. Resurrecting Nadia worked perfectly. In a rare moment of emotion, Katherine sped over and hugged her daughter the second Nadia became corporeal.

“We found a spell to resurrect anyone.” Caroline began.

“Ok.”

“Bonnie wants to use it to bring back her long-lost, Original vampire, soulmate.”

“Uh huh.”

“We needed to test it out on a non-Original, dead vampire.”

“And you chose me. Just, out of the goodness of your hearts? You hated me, Blondie.”

“Katherine insisted. And I didn’t hate you…ok, I did. But Kat’s my friend and I don’t hate you now.” Caroline and Bonnie shared a look that Nadia caught.

“And you have some conditions or something I’m guessing. Of course, there’s always a catch.”

“It’s a small one.” Bonnie said, prefacing the one condition of Nadia’s resurrection. “No one can know you’re back until we resurrect Kol.”

“Why not?”

“We…might have let slip the fact that Katherine watched you die. The Originals know you’re supposed to be dead. If you show up, very much alive, before we get the chance to resurrect Kol-“

“Your plan goes to shit. Fine. Please tell me you’re bringing him back soon.”

“Tomorrow. We have to wait for the full moon. Don’t want the Ancestors to catch on.” Caroline said before she sensed something. "Someone's coming. Go.”

Nadia paused for a moment before speeding out of the abandoned warehouse she was resurrected in. Katherine followed soon after. Caroline managed to hide all the spell ingredients by the time someone else entered.

“What are you doing?” Davina asked uncharacteristically angry.

“Why do you think we’re doing something?” Caroline deflected.

“The Ancestors are going nuts. They…. they sensed something unnatural happening and led me here. To both of you.”

“We’re doing something a little unnatural.” Caroline admitted. “But I don’t know why the Ancestors should care.”

“Because you’re doing it in ‘their city’ as they put it.”

“Oh.” Caroline said before turning to Bonnie. “We need to remember that for tomorrow. Also, we’re gonna need Nora.”

“What’s happening tomorrow?” Davina asked.

“We’re gonna do something. Its gonna make the Ancestors even angrier.”

“What? Are you resurrecting someone or something?” Davina asked and noticed a slight change in Bonnie’s behavior. “You are, aren’t you?”

“If we are, how would you feel about that?”

“Depends on who it is. It’s not Genevieve or Dahlia, right?”

“No, I can honestly say that it’s not them or anyone like them.”

Davina nodded but seemed lost in thought. “As your friend, I hope it works. As the Regent of New Orleans, I can’t condone this.”

“Understood. “

* * *

 

**The next evening-Caroline’s hideout**

“Ok, last minute checklist: Kol’s ashes?” Caroline read from the list she was holding. Bonnie, Nora and Caroline had teleported to Caroline’s secret hideout. They couldn’t risk Klaus or anyone else following them.

“Check.” Bonnie replied.

“Elijah’s blood?”

“Check.”

“Soil from Mystic Falls?”

“Yup.”

“Abathorn?”

“Got it.” Nora said.

“Full moon as a back-up source of energy?”

“Rises in two minutes.”

“Actual spell?”

“You made like sixteen copies of the translated version and we’ve done this about twelve times.” Bonnie said rolling her eyes.

“I think that’s everything.” Caroline said before feeling a change in the wind. “Showtime.”

* * *

 

**The Abattoir**

“Katerina, have you seen the Bennett witch or Caroline?” Klaus asked walking into her room without knocking. Caroline had seemed…off when he saw her earlier that day. He wanted to question her, but issues with the Strix took priority.

“Ever heard of knocking?”

“I’m the Original hybrid, I don’t need to knock. Do you know where they are?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Katherine asked. “Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“How tight-lipped she’s actually being about this. I didn’t think Blondie had it in her.”

“Had what?”

“Niklaus, may I ask why you’re yelling at Katerina?” Elijah said walking into the room.

“Do none of you people knock?!”

“Elijah, your one true love knows where Caroline and the Bennett witch are but won’t tell me.”

“Oh, I’ll tell you. It’s not like you can stop it anyway. But first, I need you to get your sisters.” Katherine said smirking. Klaus disappeared in one direction and Elijah went in the other. A few moments later, both returned with Rebekah, Freya and, surprisingly, Mary Louise in tow.

“Why do you need to see us?” Rebekah asked.

“Does this have anything to do with Nora?”

“In a way.” Katherine said. “Nora’s with Caroline and Bonnie at the moment, doing witchy things.”

“What kind of witchy things?” Freya asked.

Katherine was quiet for a moment before looking directly at Klaus. “You know that spell you got so upset about a few weeks back? They’re performing it, as we speak. Given the situation, they needed a third witch.”

“Why didn’t they come to me?” Freya asked.

“Or me?” Mary Lou asked as well.

“Nora’s known all along who Bonnie wanted to bring back. Involving her was less of a risk.” Freya was about to ask another question when the building began to shake and the wind picked up. “Ah, I guess they’ve started.”

“Who is it?” Klaus yelled. “Answer me Katerina or so help me-“

“You’ll find out soon enough. It’s already too late to stop it. Why do you think she kept you in the dark?”

* * *

 

**Davilla Estate**

“What was that?” One of the Sisters asked. The entire coven felt the air around them become energized suddenly.

“The woman who caused the quake. She’s finally testing her limits.” Ariane said.

“What?”

“She’s been under the radar the last few weeks. Now, she’s doing something, performing some spell that takes more energy than most witches have. When power like that gets used, Nature reacts.”

* * *

 

**Lucien’s Penthouse**

Alexis gasped and sat up. A few moments earlier, she was talking to Lucien when she fell into a trance and became unresponsive.

“What is it? What did you see?”

“She’s changed reality itself. One of the fallen has returned. Thrice dead and yet he’s found his way back into this world once again.” Alexis said in a monotone voice. “The future is now in chaos.”

* * *

 

**Caroline’s hideout**

The trio of witches stood in a circle with baited breath. Kol’s body had appeared shortly after the spell began, much like Nadia’s had, but his soul took longer to collect. They could do nothing but watch and continue chanting until they saw some sign of Kol’s spirit returning.

Right as the moon hit its apex, there was a sudden change in the air. The very molecules in the atmosphere seemed to be electrified and the air felt thick, yet light at the same time. The wind began to pick up and Qetsiyah yelled at Bonnie from the Afterlife to ‘keep chanting if you actually want this to work’.

When the trio heard a sudden intake of breath, Bonnie nearly fell to her knees crying. Kol reached out to catch her and jumped in surprise when he could physically touch her.

“I…I can touch you. I’m back!” he yelled excitedly. “You…you did it.”

“Yes, I did.” Bonnie said happily, with tears running down her face.

“Hey, you had some help, Bon.” Caroline teased.

“Right. Thanks ladies.” Kol said before turning back to Bonnie. “I always knew you could do it.”

Nora and Caroline walked away to give the pair some privacy. The blonde turned her phone on and saw dozens of missed calls and texts from various Mikaelsons. “Shit. Hey, lovebirds. We gotta head back before Klaus does something stupid.”

“Nik doing something stupid? I’m shocked.” Kol said. “Well, no time like the present for a surprise family reunion.” He offered his arm to Bonnie. “Shall we?”

* * *

 

**The Abattoir**

The three witches and Kol landed in the empty courtyard of the compound. Caroline quickly performed a cloaking spell on Kol before the group headed upstairs.

“After I tell them the spell is done, I’ll remove it ok? I kinda just want to see their faces.” Caroline explained. Kol nodded while smiling mischievously.

They found Klaus, and his siblings, Katherine and Mary Louise gathered in Katherine’s room arguing. “Maybe I can’t stop it, but I can still give them a piece of my mind. Where are they?”

“Right behind you.” Caroline said, making everyone jump. “I take it by the yelling that you know what we’ve been up to?”

“Katerina was nice enough to tell us you were using the spell only after it was too late to stop you.” Elijah stated. “I can’t say any of us are happy about that.”

“Or that fact that you didn’t tell your own coven what you were doing.” Mary Louise said crossing her arms.

“What’s done is done. The spell worked. I stand by my decision. Involving the whole coven would have put the whole coven at risk, and I wasn’t willing to trick you into helping me.”

“The question remains, love. Who did you bring back?” Klaus asked.

“Do you remember what I told you when you first asked me that?”

“You claimed, or at least hinted, that Bonnie’s long-lost love wasn’t an enemy.”

“He’s not. I think you saw him as more of a nuisance than anything.”

“So we’ve met before?”

“Oh, you all go way back.” Caroline said before snapping her fingers.

“Hey Nik.” A voice said from behind Caroline. Four sets of eyes widened as a figure stepped out from behind the blonde.

“Kol?”


	30. Chapter 30

“Hey Nik.”

“Kol?” Klaus asked before slowly reaching towards him. The hybrid’s eyes began to water when his hand met Kol’s shoulder and didn’t just pass through. The other Mikaelsons rushed over around the same time.

“How? How is this-? You’re-“

“Real? Alive? The love of Bonnie Bennett’s life? Yes, to all of the above. The Other Side is quite the place to meet ladies.”

Klaus and Elijah both turned to face Caroline and Katherine respectively. “You said you didn’t know him.”

“I didn’t, not really. I knew who he was, but I didn’t really get to know him.” Caroline said shrugging. Loopholes were kinda great in situations like this.

“Wait, how did you bring him back? That spell had very specific ingredients, Miss Forbes. A few of which we would have noticed going missing.”

“Are you asking about the ‘ashes of target’ or the ‘blood of a relative’ part?”

“Both.”

“I was hoping to wait to explain this,” Caroline sighed. “I…. kinda read Rebekah’s mind to find out where she put Kol’s ashes after you tricked Davina. And I convinced Katherine to steal your blood since Klaus and Freya’s wouldn’t work and we weren’t sure if Rebekah would be in town.”

“Why would our blood work?” Freya said gesturing between herself and Klaus.

“You’re a witch, Klaus is a hybrid. When it comes down to biology, you two aren’t the same species as Kol.”

“Why would Katerina agree to steal my blood when I would have given it willingly?”

“No, you wouldn’t have.” Katherine shot back. “If I asked for your blood, you’d have asked why I needed it or why I didn’t need Klaus’. You asked me 18 different questions when I mentioned that I might want to visit Bulgaria offhandedly. I love you but you ask way too many questions, even when I’m not up to something.”

“Hey, you tell them yet?” A brunette woman asked when she walked into the room.

“She’s why Kat agreed to help us.” Caroline explained. “Mikaelsons, meet Nadia Petrova. Katherine’s not-so-long-lost child.”

“I thought she died.”

“I did.”

“Ugh, can you lot stop being so boring?” Kol whined. “If I wanted to listen to this, I’d have stayed dead. You know what my miraculous recovery calls for?”

“A party?” Bonnie asked, already knowing it was the answer.

“Not just any party, love. The party to end all parties.” Kol said excitedly.

* * *

 

**Lafayette Cemetery-Next Day**

“Something happened again last night!” Kara Nguyen yelled at Davina. “What is she up to?”

“If I was up to something, what makes you think I’d tell Davina? Especially since I know the outcome if I do.” Caroline said from behind the older woman. “I mean, any time something slightly unnatural happens, you run here to scream at her. Then, you bitch about your ancestors being cut off, then you threaten her. Why would I add onto that by giving you another reason to be a psychotic bitch?”

“Why you little-“ Kara moved to do something. yell some more, attack her, who knows.

“Ok, This is already getting tedious. Go away.” Caroline said waving her hand. A light breeze pushed Kara out of the cemetery. “You ok Davina?”

“Yeah. I take it by the wind storm yesterday whatever you did was successful?”

“There was a windstorm?”

“Yeah, didn’t you notice?”

“I wasn’t exactly in the city when I did what I did, but yes, it was very successful.” Caroline answered. “And I’m sorry but your Ancestors are going to be really pissed.”

Davina placed the herbs she was holding down and turned to face Caroline fully. “Why?”

“I didn’t just bring any person back. Hell, we didn’t just bring any vampire back. We brought back Kol Mikaelson.”

“Kol’s alive?” Davina asked, equal parts hopeful and disbelieving. Caroline nodded but didn’t speak. “How? Why?”

“Kol and Bonnie are....together. Since before the Other Side collapsed.” Caroline really hoped she wasn’t breaking this poor girl’s heart.

“So Bonnie was the one he was talking about” Davina said more to herself than to the blonde.

“I’m sorry, I know you kinda had a thing for him.” Caroline said awkwardly.

“It’s fine. We both are grown-ups and we both knew we weren’t who the other one really wanted. I just…..wish I get my person back.” Davina said trailing off.

“Well, maybe I can help you with that.”

* * *

 

**The Abattoir**

Elijah came storming into the Abattoir, equal parts worried and angry. “Niklaus, we have a problem.”

“What is it brother?” Klaus asked sounding bored. Elijah’s definition of a problem and Klaus’ were in no way similar.

“I went over to Jackson’s apartment to discuss something with him. neither Hayley nor Jackson were there..”

“So they went out, what’s the big deal?”

“There clearly had been a fight. They’re not out, Niklaus, they’re missing.” Elijah said.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Strix makes a very big mistake

**Warehouse**

Hayley woke up tied to a chair. She tried to break the chains holding her down but found that she couldn’t. She started to look around and saw that Jackson was tied to a chair next to her. The air had a faint scent of wolfsbane, not surprising, and the disgusting cologne Tristan seemed to douse himself in. All curiosity about how she got there went away. She rolled her eyes and sighed. This was going to be annoying.

* * *

 

**Lafayette Cemetery**

Caroline looked over at Davina, trying to decide how to broach the topic they needed to discuss. “Have you ever…thought about not being a New Orleans witch?” she asked, deciding to just tear the band-aid off.

“Yeah. Quite a bit over the last two years. Why?”

“Well, Bonnie, myself, Freya and three other witch friends of mine, we…we kinda started our own coven. I don’t mean to brag, but we’re pretty awesome. Anyway, I feel like between Kara always being a bitch to you and everything around here kinda changing that you-“

“That I what?”

“We want you to join our coven. That is, if you want to. I…. I don’t want you to feel like you have to. We’ll understand if you pass though.” Caroline sort of trailed off.

Davina was going to reply when a man came running up to them.

“There you are gorgeous. I thought I was going to have to check the whole city.”

“What is it Enzo?”

“Problem at Casa de Mikaelson. A certain pouty brunette and her hairy husband are MIA.”

“Ok, and?”

“Loverboy is feeling a little….”

“Paranoid and homicidal?” Enzo nodded and Caroline sighed. She turned to Davina and said. “I gotta go. Think it over, ok?”

Enzo and Caroline both sped out of the cemetery.

* * *

 

**The Abattoir**

**“** Any news?” Caroline asked when they got to the compound.

“None. Their apartment is in shambles, Bonnie and Kol are…indisposed and Freya is trying to locate them.” Klaus answered.

“Klaus?” a weak female voice called out, everyone turned and saw Camille standing in the doorway.

“Cami, now’s not a great time-“ The hybrid began to say.

“What happened?” Caroline asked. Something seemed very off about Camille. She sounded groggy and unsure of herself, like she had just woken up.

“There was this woman. She said her name was Aurora. She…she told me to kill myself before 2am this morning. Now…. now I have all these new memories.“ Cami responded and then her words sunk in. “Oh god, I…. I’m a vampire now, aren’t I? “

“Yeah.” Caroline said sadly. “Once you drink human blood, you will be. If you choose to.”

“Why…. why would she do that?”

“Because she’s a psychotic bitch.” Katherine answered from the landing. “Let’s get you some blood.”

Cami didn’t respond to Katherine in one way or another. Becoming a vampire never occurred to her so she didn’t know if she wanted to transition or not. She shook her head and sped upstairs. Klaus walked into the kitchen and had a short conversation with Valerie.

* * *

 

**Warehouse**

“You know, I gave it a great deal of thought.” Tristan said as he circled Jackson and Hayley’s captive forms. “How I was going to hurt a hybrid. My ultimate goal wasn't you in particular, but life isn't fair. Hybrids are such…. mysterious beings. Their weaknesses are rather difficult to find or use against them. Especially for vampires. ”

“Wait til I’m not tied to this chair and I’ll teach you all about pain.” Hayley said through clenched teeth.

“Then, I figured it out.” Tristan kept on talking like he hadn’t heard her. In a flash, his hand was in Jackson’s chest. A second later, his heart was on the floor. “Hurt those they care about.”

Tristan wiped his hands and walked off, leaving Hayley alone with Jackson’s body.

* * *

 

**Abattoir**

“Delivery for K. Mikaelson?” An unknown man asked walking into the building.

“That would be me.” Klaus replied, signing the form the man held out and taking the box in his hands. Anxiously, Klaus cut the box open and smelled blood. He saw a letter sitting on top of something. It was only after Klaus pulled the letter out that he discovered the other item in the box. It was a heart, human, vampire or werewolf, he didn’t know.

_Dear friends-_

_Please find the enclosed heart of Jackson. Hayley’s will follow if you do not meet_

_my demands. Come to Coltrane’s Autoshop. Bring the Serratura._

_Kind regards,_

_Tristan._

 

Klaus read out Tristan’s letter.

“Please tell me you’re not about to walk directly into that trap.” Katherine said from the stairwell. “That’s a new level of stupid, even for you.”

“What alternative is there?”

“So many alternatives. Don’t do it. Find Tristan and kill him. Or, you could be the real you for once.” Katherine answered.

“The real me?”

“The monster vampires were afraid of. The asshole that murdered my family. The one who would’ve destroyed Tristan in a second the moment he entered the city. That guy.”

“What are you suggesting, Katerina?” Elijah asked.

“Tristan has a sister, doesn’t he?” Katherine said before heading upstairs. Caroline stared for a second before following her.

“Loathe as I am to admit it, she does have a valid point.” Elijah said. Freya scoffed and walked upstairs to check on Cami.

* * *

 

**Upstairs**

“Are you here to make me choose?” Cami asked Freya from her spot on the bed in a spare room. “I mean, Klaus already threatened some blonde witch into making sure I can’t leave.”

“Actually, I’m quite sympathetic to your situation. I was once denied the right to die the way I wanted. I hated the person who took that choice from me. If you want to die, so be it.” Freya waved her hand. “Luckily, Valerie was just as against forcing you as I am.”

“Thanks. This is the nicest thing anyone’s done for me today.” Cami prepared to return home to die.

“As you get ready to die, I’d like to offer you another choice.”

The newly-turned vampire stopped in the doorway. “I’m listening.”

“You can starve alone or you can choose to use the few hours you have left to help me.”

* * *

 

**Katherine’s room**

“Why do I get the feeling you’re planning a murder?” Katherine asked Caroline as they entered the former’s room.

“Because I am. I warned Tristan. I told him how monumentally stupid pissing me off was and yet, he went and did it. That calls for some retaliation, don’t you think?”

“Klaus is already dealing with it.”

“Klaus is dealing with the threat to Hayley and what happened to Camille. He’s not getting justice for the other things.”

“The other things?”

“Rebekah being hexed, trying to trap Klaus and Elijah with that stupid medallion, pissing me off. I think between the two of us, we can deal with those consequences, don’t you?” Caroline wasn't willing to lose Klaus. She was fed up with the whole Trinity situation. She was annoyed that Aurora felt the need to make Cami kill herself for some insane reason. On top of all of that, Jackson was dead. Caroline and the werewolf had developed a strange friendship since Bonnie de-cursed his pack. Tension with Hayley aside, Jackson was a friend. Caroline was tired of her friends dying.

“Are you asking me to help you kill Tristan?” Katherine asked slyly.

“No, Tristan's death isn't quite enough. I’m asking if you want to help me decimate the Strix. Between my power and your ability to cause people pain, they won’t stand a chance.”

“I like the way you think Blondie.” Katherine said smiling. “Should we invite the others to the party?”

“Nope. Between you, me and Jeremy we’ll have it covered.”

“Jeremy?”

“Jer’s still a Hunter and he had some business in Baton Rouge. The Strix did try to kill him earlier. Plus, I have an idea about the Aurora Situation that I need his assistance with.” Caroline had already dug through Aurora's mind and discovered things far more personal than just where she hid Rebekah.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gets to see the resemblance between Caroline and Silas. The Strix needs to look at their lives, look at their choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I'm skipping over a lot of stuff in between chapters. Just assume somehow Aurora got taken by Klaus and Vincent was able to activate the Serratura because one of his ancestors created it.

“You know what they say, payback’s a bitch.” Camille said as she walked over the boundary created by the Serratura.

“How is this possible?” Tristan asked horrified.

“The Serratura created an impenetrable boundary. Nothing living or dead can pass through.” Klaus said with a smug grin.

“And thanks to your lunatic sister, right now, I’m neither.” Cami said before walking away.

Tristan spent a few minutes trying to get the Strix to attack Elijah, only for the Original to point out how futile such an effort would be. In addition, Marcel convinced Aya that the time to act was gone. All the vampires were about to leave the warehouse when they discovered that they couldn’t move.

“As satisfying as that looked, I’m not quite done.” Caroline said, appearing on top of the shipping crate Tristan was now trapped in. “Are you satisfied?”

“Oh, no way Blondie.” Katherine said appearing next to the container with a malicious smirk on her face and her arms crossed. “Elijah’s way too sexy to be locked away forever. No one gets to plot against the Mikaelsons but us.”

“I agree, minus the Elijah’s too sexy part. Not my type” She said jumping down. “I don’t remember saying they could leave.”

“Love, what are you doing?”

“Backing up my threats.” Caroline said before turning to Tristan. “I distinctly remember telling you not to piss me off. And that’s exactly what you did. You and your little club of ass-kissers.”

“I’d be a little less rude if I were-“ Aya began to say before she found herself experiencing an unfathomable, indescribable amount of pain.

“In case it’s not obvious, I don’t give a shit how tough you think you are.” Caroline said before waving her hand and snapping Aya’s neck. “Anyone else? No. Good.” Caroline said addressing the group. “Now, I’m unsure how well my message to Tristan was translated, but ignorance is not bliss. Klaus and Elijah might be satisfied with what happened here today, but I’m not. Which means, unfortunately, some of you have to die. No one here, except Cami of course, gets to leave until then.”

“Miss Forbes-“

“Elijah, no offense, but its my turn to talk now.” Caroline said. “Kat, if you had to guess, how many Strix members would you say are in this warehouse right now.”

“I don’t know, like 30?”

“Do any of you know where the word ‘decimation’ comes from?” None of the Strix responded. “Anyone? Elijah?” the Original knew but didn’t answer, wanting to see where this was going. “It’s an old Roman term. See, when the Roman army messed up badly enough, they were punished with decimation. They’d split the entire platoon or whatever into groups of ten. Then, nine group members had to beat the tenth to death. Now, I’m not going to make you do that. Partially because you freaks would like that too much and partially because you’d just tear out the heart and kill them too quickly. I am going to kill a tenth of you though.”

“And we’re going to kill another three or four.” Katherine interrupted.

“We?” one of the Strix asked.

A crossbow bolt came flying through the warehouse a second later. She smiled and gestured to behind the assembled Strix members. “Yes, meet my friend Jeremy. Well, not friend but whatever. He’s a Hunter, with a capital H and you all tried to kill him.”

Jeremy stalked into the building with his signature angsty look wielding a crossbow. He glared at the assembled vampires, except Caroline, and without warning, shot a random Strix member in the chest.

“Feel better?” Katherine asked. “All that teen angst gone?”

“Nope.”

“Ok, back on topic though. My turn.” Caroline began walking in between the immobilized vampires, looking at each questioningly before muttering something to herself and walking on. Finally, she reached one vampire who made her smirk turn into a full-blown grin. “You.” She said pointing to him. She then pointed to two others nearby. “And you two. Come here.” The vampires couldn’t do anything other than follow Caroline, albeit reluctantly. “Stand right there.”

Everyone looked around in confusion as Caroline walked away and came back with chalk and a jar filled with dark liquid. She then turned to Klaus, Elijah and Katherine. “You three might want to step back.”

The Mikaelsons gave her a confused look while Katherine was smirking as usual. The blonde drew a chalk circle around her three ‘volunteers’ before starting to mutter something. As soon as she was done speaking, all three vampires began screaming. The blonde shrugged and began drinking out of the jar.

“Did you really bring a snack to your murder party?” Katherine asked. Caroline had brought a container of B+ blood to this little show.

“Duh, this kinda stuff tires me out.” Caroline answered over the screaming.

“What the hell are you doing to them?” one of the vampires asked.

“It’s a little trick I learned from Kat’s uncle Markos. It undoes any and all the Spirit magic contained in the circle I drew. Unfortunately for your buddies here, Spirit magic is the only thing that keeps a vampire alive, so you know, they’re dying. Horrendously.”

“Wouldn’t they just drop dead then?”

“No. It doesn’t banish the magic, it slowly strips it away. Soon enough, their bodies will resort back to their condition when they died. Oh, and they’ll relive that too. Like I said, I want you to suffer.” Caroline said before turning to Katherine. “I picked some good ones too.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. Two got tortured to death, one died from diphtheria that Elijah, unfortunately, thought vampire blood could cure. It couldn’t.“ After an unknown amount of time, Caroline thought it was a short period, the others did not, all three vampires were on the ground dead.

Katherine and Jeremy weren’t as interested in showmanship and just staked or tore out the hearts of three other vampires. As soon as they were dead, Caroline released the remaining vampires and they fled the warehouse as fast as they could.

“Is this to be my end?” Tristan asked as he looked around the shipping container.

“End? No, no. This is the very beginning. You are going to the bottom of the ocean where you will drown in darkness again and again and over the course of centuries, this will be your splendidly horrific and perpetual end.” Elijah said gleefully.

“What have you done with my sister?”

“Nothing.” Klaus answered. “Yet. But I assure you, her death will be spectacular.”

“About that…” Caroline interrupted. “I’m not quite done with Tristan yet.”

“I’m trapped in here already you fool what more can you do?”

“Do you honestly think, after what you just saw, I’m satisfied trapping you in a box? “ Caroline asked. “Killing members of the Strix was the price for not keeping their distance. You, however, also killed a friend of mine. Your psychotic sister killed another friend of mine. I can’t just let those go.” Caroline turned towards the entrance to the warehouse. “You can come in now.”

“Finally. I’m hurt, darling, that I had to miss this murder party.” Kol said, pulling a someone into the building with a bag over their head.

“Kol is alive?”

“Surprise. For the record, I’ve always hated this one.” Kol replied pointing to Tristan. The person with him began to stir and Kol kicked them, hard, in the side before pulling the bag off. “Not as much as I hate her though.”

“Love, what exactly is this?” Klaus asked looking down at the person on the floor.

“My revenge against Tristan. Crazy pants, say hi to your brother….”

Aurora awoke and tried to run to him, only to find herself blocked by the Serratura’s boundary. Caroline then immobilized her. “What…. what have you done?”

“Tristan’s been put in time-out, Ashley.” Katherine responded annoyed.

“Why is she here?” Tristan, Klaus and Elijah all asked.

Caroline waved her arms and a black case appeared on the floor in front of her. She then began circling Aurora. “I was just getting to that. I doubt you remember, but I dug through your head a few weeks back. I didn’t just see where you hid Rebekah or what your plan was, I saw everything. Your regret, your most cherished memories, your fears.”

“Get to the point.”

“Oh, I am. All of this is happening because Elijah compelled you to impersonate his family to draw Mikael’s attention. You had to run for your lives and, even after all these years, the thing you’re most afraid of is having to run.” Caroline said ominously. “So I figured, why not make you run again? And punish your brother at the same time? Jeremy?” The Hunter walked over to the case and opened it. He pulled something out. “I believe you’ve seen this item before.”

“Is that-“ Katherine began to say.

“The Phoenix sword? Yes. I told you I knew where it was.” She took it from Jeremy and then turned back to the de Martels. “Did you know that Rayna Cruz can track any vampire that’s been so much as scratched by this blade?” with Aurora still immobilized, Caroline nicked her arm with the edge of the blade. “Enjoy living on the run again.” She released the older woman and watched in sick satisfaction as she fled the building in tears. “I told you earlier, Tristan, that it wasn’t a good idea to piss me off. Say hi to Nemo for me.” The blonde put the weapon back into its case, the case disappeared, and Caroline, Jeremy, Kol and Katherine left the building.

“I have to admit Blondie, you are shockingly good at vengeance.”

"Well, I guess it runs in the family."


	33. Chapter 33

**Davila Estate**

After their experience at the docks, the Strix realized they desperately needed to regroup. With Tristan now ‘indisposed’ and no obvious leader or way forward, the group found themselves at odds.

“We need to move forward with Tristan’s back-up plan, the orb.”

“No, we need to not do that.” Marcel interrupted. “One, you don’t know where it is. Two, you don’t know where it is and three, they’re onto us now. The Mikaelsons aren't even our biggest threat.”

“We will deal with it.” Aya said serenely.

“We’ll deal with it, that’s your answer. Were we not in the same building? Did you not see what just happened? The blonde tore through us like tissue paper!”

“She’s just one witch.” One of the vampires said.

“No, she’s not. That was beyond the abilities of entire covens. There’s no way she’s ‘just a witch’. Besides, no witch I’ve ever seen drinks blood.”

“What exactly are you suggesting?”

“We have no idea who that woman is. Or what she is. You assumed a vampire because she’s near the Originals. Or a witch because she’s been seen with them. What if she’s neither? For all we know, she’s the ‘powerful force’ your pet witches are so determined to find. Or the woman Lucien’s psychic had a meltdown over.”

“That’s impossible.”

“So is a spell that undoes vampirism.”

* * *

 

**The Abbattoir**

After the events at the warehouse, the Mikaelsons were wary to approach Caroline. The blonde had shown a dark and frankly terrifying aspect of her personality while dealing with the Strix and, in Klaus and Elijah’s case, feared what that meant.

“It….it was like her humanity was off, but she was so angry.” Klaus told Freya when recapping the days events.

“Do you think it is off?”

“I don’t think so.”

“It’s not off.” Katherine said from the doorway. “You’ve just….none of you realize how much she’s been through. She didn’t turn it off, she just turned it down.”

“You can do that?”

“Well, vampires can’t. Then again, nothing like Caroline’s ever existed before, so I don’t know.”

Klaus, still concerned about Caroline, decided to just talk to the woman herself and figure out what happened. He found her upstairs in Lizzie and Josie’s room. “Hello love.”

“Hey.” The blonde said looking up.

“Are you…alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?”

“Well, love, I…..”

“I believe what my brother wants to convey is concern over what occurred at the warehouse earlier today.” Elijah said from the doorway. “Your behavior was somewhat…..out of character.”

“Out of character. You mean, not like the perky blonde baby vampire you’re used to. “ Caroline paraphrased for him. “I don’t think anyone, even you two, understands how hard it is for me to be good all the time. How much of an effort it takes. I have to tell myself every day that if I give in to my darkness, I’m not better than people like Mikael or Silas. And it is more difficult than you could ever understand.”

“Miss Forbes, of course we-“

“No, you don’t. I was murdered, fairly recently, that’s how I became a vampire. Then, some psycho came for my best friend on multiple occasions. Then, the whole Silas situation happened. Then, Bonnie got sucked into oblivion. Then, a sociopathic siphoner showed up, Elena got put into an everlasting coma and my mother died. On top of all of that, a dying coven decided to make me an incubator without my consent or even telling me. A bunch of Rippers from 1903 showed up and Alaric died. I got powers from my super dead and super psychotic relative. Any one of those things should’ve been enough to make me want to kill people, but I didn’t. “

“I know that you’ve made a choice to be good, Caroline. I just….I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”

“I don’t regret what I did. I have lost enough people for a lifetime. So, on top of all the things I just mentioned, having both Jackson and Cami die, both of whom were friends of mine, it was just too much. The anger and the vengefulness that you saw has been brewing for a long time. The Strix made the mistake of being the last person to add to it.”

“I know that. “

“Then why are you so worried?”

“Because, in my thousand years of life, with all the things I’ve done over the centuries, I’ve never seen a being do what you just did and walk away like it was no big deal. It’s like your humanity goes away when its convienent.“

“Maybe it does. Maybe that’s why Silas found it so easy to do everything he did.”

“Actually, its not.” Bonnie said from the doorway.

“It isn’t. How do you know?”

“Tessa and I talked. You’re dealing with the same choice to be good that you’ve struggled with since you turned, its just harder now because you’re no longer just a vampire. More potential for darkness means its harder to fight off. “

“So every time I get angry I’m going to want to kill people?”

“Every time you repress years of anger, yeah. You have to actually let that anger out before it boils over.”

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

Julian was drinking his anger away when one of his new witches came running into the Grill.

“What is it?” he asked without looking up.

“I found the sword.”

“What?” Juilan said putting the bottle down and turning to face the woman. “Where?”

“It’s in New Orleans. I was scrying for it when all of a sudden, the cloaking was removed. It was in a warehouse along the Mississippi.”

“That’s all you have?” he asked annoyed.

“It’s a lead. And its better than your ex-family ever found.” The woman scoffed and walked out.

* * *

 

**Columbus, Ohio**

Rayna Cruz was doing what she did best, killing vampires. All of a sudden she left a pulling sensation in her chest. It was telling her that she needed to move south. The woman quickly staked the last vampire in the building and headed out. The last time she felt such a pull was when the Phoenix stone had been reunited with the sword.


End file.
